


Spectrum

by teapotscandal, XanderB



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: ASD-Autism Spectrum Disorder, Alcohol, Also eventually, Alternate Universe - College/University, Anal Sex, Awkward Boners, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Awkward Sexual Situations, Awkwardness, Bullying, Ereri Fluff Appreciation, Eventual Sex, Explicit Consent, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Fraternities & Sororities, Good Uncle Kenny Ackerman, Jock Eren Yeager, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Masturbation, Mikasa Ackerman & Levi Are Related, Misunderstandings, Music, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Overprotective Mikasa Ackerman, Slow Burn, Sports, adorable shananigans abound, behavioural therapy, developmental and behavioural disorders, eventually, furry bandits, in general
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-05-03 01:16:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 62,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14557674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teapotscandal/pseuds/teapotscandal, https://archiveofourown.org/users/XanderB/pseuds/XanderB
Summary: Levi was finishing up his meal leisurely as Mikasa hissed at him, “Levi!”“What?You didn’t have to come if you were just going to be annoying the whole fucking time Mika,” he snapped, pushing his bowl away from him and glaring at her.She gave him that same exasperated look she always did when he was being difficult, “You can’t just say things like that even if someone is your friend! It’s rude!”“You’re rude! I don’t need a babysitter! You came early even though I didn’t call you because you don’t think I can make friends on my own,” he rebuffed, face scrunching with irritation as he began to fidget uncontrollably.“This is exactly why I worry about you. You didn’t even think about how what you said might affect yourfriend. You could have hurt Eren's feelings or embarrassed him. He doesn’t even know about your--”“About my what Mika?”“Aboutyou,” the young woman huffed, rolling her eyes heavenwards.~Fluffy college AU with a unique twist. Our contribution for Ereri Fluff Appreciation Month.





	1. Crimson

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo.... we've had this fic sitting in our docs for a while; it's one we started some time ago and have worked on leisurely between other updates which are still in the work so don't worry! But being as it is apparently Ereri Fluff Appreciation Month according to tumblr, we decided to make our own contribution by posting this which is probably our fluffiest and slowest burning piece of work and doesn't quite follow the prompts set for the event. But oh well, fluff's fluff. We have a chapter for each weekend of May and then will continue as we can between other updates as per usual. And there is a little chibi art courtesy of XanderB at the end of the chap.
> 
> This piece was mostly inspired by the Netflix original Atypical and deals with some controversial subjects. 
> 
> Levi is played by XanderB as usual, whom also struggles with some of the same issues that are present in his character in this fic, and also, along with Xander's wife(RECE), works closely with a number of children with these sorts of disorders. So hopefully it's done a bit of justice. And we hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Some things to remember while reading this fic:
> 
> People with ASD can exhibit any combination of symptoms and each case is unique to the individual. People with ASD function in the real world everyday, have strengths, weaknesses and desires like everyone else, but struggle with social interaction and recognition. People with ASD are not mentally, physically or emotionally incompetent, though in some severe cases, and without treatment, they maybe be lower functioning on the whole. There is NO significant scientific evidence to support that ASD is caused by vaccinations though it can be hereditary. If you have questions, ask, but don't be an asshole.
> 
> *Blanket Warning*: This work of fiction is rated mature for explicit sexual content, nudity, and subject matter that may be offensive to some individuals. Viewer discretion is advised.

People were weird, Levi thought, but he knew that that wasn’t the case. He was the weird one, not the same… _Different._ He’d been told so plenty and since he was the only one that seemed to think normal people were strange, he had to believe that what he’d been told was true. It was alright though. It wasn’t so bad being different. Most of the time anyway. It made it a bit difficult to make friends, but he didn’t mind being by himself all that much anyhow. 

He rolled his black inked pen between his fingers, seated at his spot in the upper left corner where he would only have to worry about a single stranger sitting next to him rather than one on either side. That made him nervous and he didn’t like it, wouldn’t be able to concentrate if he could feel them breathing and fidgeting against him on both sides. Soft piano music filtered through the headphones covering his ears, soothing him as he simply watched the lecture hall filling with other sleepy-eyed college students. He’d been early; he was always early. That was what Mikasa said was polite. It was a rule and he abided it without question, though he didn’t fully understand why it was so important.

He shifted his feet, one foot moving constantly along with the wordless music, his favourite black converse sneakers tied the way he liked adorning them and tucked under the slim fit of his dark grey jeans. He straightened his olive green zip-up over his plain grey t-shirt, rezipping it to mid chest when it unzipped some, distracted as he frowned at the loose zipper on the clothing. He didn’t like zippers, but usually as long as there was just the one, he could manage. This one was just being particularly annoying. He unzipped it all the way, shook out the fabric and rezipped it, shifting uncomfortably and unzipping it again.

Levi was so distracted by his zipper that he didn't notice when the campus golden boy entered the room until the sleepy and quiet people seated in the lecture hall brightened up. 

“Eren! Didn't know you were taking this class!” a guy called. 

“Haven't seen you in forever! How was your summer?” 

“Are you going to the party at Kappa phi tonight?” 

“I saw the video of you shotgunning that beer, Jaeger! So fucking awesome bro!” 

Eren just gave them all a lazy smile and a wave, hand running through his windswept chestnut hair as his bright green eyes scanned the now full classroom for an empty spot. He was too tired to converse with most of them, cursing himself for taking an eight a.m. class that he was almost late for and had no time to answer all of their questions. 

The only row available was at the very back, one lone student sitting silently in the corner. Eren's mouth formed into a frown, he didn't recognize the guy, but he reassured himself that he couldn't possibly know everyone on campus no matter how hard he tried, so he sauntered up the steps and sat down leaving a seat between them just as the professor walked in the door. 

“Welcome,” said the professor, pulling out a stack of paperwork, “My name is Dr. Hange Zoe, but you can call me Dr. Hange or just Hange… I’m sure we all feel that this class is too early… So let's get through this syllabus and sign the agreement so I can end class early and go back to bed…” A couple students laughed in agreement as the papers were handed out. Hange continued to talk and Eren listened until someone passed him the last two papers. He took his own and reached over to hand the second to his deskmate; the guy was completely ignoring his outstretched hand. 

“Hey,” Eren whispered as he turned to face the loner, waving the paper, “Your copy of the syllabus?” His bright green eyes were trained on the guy waiting to be noticed as he leaned across the seat that separated them. There was no annoyance or malice in his expression, just genuine curiosity, wondering how on earth he couldn't be seen. It made him _want_ the man's attention suddenly, but he waved the feeling off since he felt silly. 

Levi noticed the movement out of the corner of his eyes and instinctively drew away as the other young man leaned towards him. He looked at the paper and then up to the brunette’s face before his gaze quickly dropped again. “I can’t hear you,” he stated, not reaching for the paper, but leaving a space free on his part of the desk for the other to deposit it instead and turned his gaze back to the front of the class, adjusting the settings on his headphones to pick up Dr. Hange’s voice through the bluetooth connected to the mic she wore. He turned down the volume and fiddled with the settings until the sound of her lecture wasn’t so grating or obscured by static and began immediately fidgeting with his pen again as he tried to ignore the young man one seat over from him, acutely aware, he was _still_ looking at him. He shifted uncomfortably, looked at his desk companion and away again, only to glance back seconds later, confused by the continued attention. And why hadn’t he put the paper down on the desk yet? The surface was already clean and there was enough space available for it; Levi had checked already.

Eren was pleasantly surprised by the intense colour of the guy's eyes when he was finally acknowledged. He didn't really realize he was staring avidly at the brilliant sparkling grey eyes that glanced at him, but was instantly disappointed when they faced forward once again. Without realizing it, Eren started to lean forward and tilt his head again, trying to catch another glimpse of the stormy colour until he noticed the rigid tensing of the guy's shoulders. Sitting back with a pout, he realized the guy _still_ hadn't taken the syllabus so he placed it on the desk between them with an exasperated sigh then turned to face forward. He was determined to listen to the lecture and tried not to feel hurt that he was being treated like a leper. It was not a feeling he was used to, and he found that he didn't much like it. 

Levi let out a sigh as the brunette finally leaned away again and settled the paper down between them, _not_ in the space Levi had aptly provided, but several inches closer to his desk space instead. He didn’t look at him as he reached over and slid the paper across the surface to fit it perfectly aligned with his notebook and meticulously wrote his full name at the top of it in all capital and printed letters, edging forward on his seat and bouncing his leg to the melody playing in his head as the lecturer’s voice droned lowly through his headphones. Several long moments later, he was feeling restless, unable to shake the feeling that he was still being watched even though every time he looked, the other male wasn’t looking at him. Feeling anxious and paranoid, he bent to dig in the front pocket of his messenger bag for the new fidget cube Mikasa had gifted him in his stocking at Christmas the previous year, idly using it to occupy his antsy fingers as he tried to focus on what Dr. Hange was saying. He could see her grinning and most of his classmates were laughing, but he’d missed what she’d said that was so funny.

Even though Eren's eyes were faced forward, he wasn't listening to the lecture at all, too busy listening and feeling the guy beside him practically vibrate in his seat. He felt kind of bad about it, obviously his curiosity made the kid uncomfortable and anxious, but Eren couldn't help his impulsiveness. It was getting closer to the end of class when Hange began to write down her office hours and email on the board for everyone to write down. Eren immediately grabbed his backpack to search for a pen when he realized with a groan that he’d forgotten his pencil case. Biting his lip and looking around with panic he eyed his neighbor then hesitated for only a moment before he decided to get his attention once again and ask for a pen. 

“Pssstt hey… hello?... hey!” Eren said frantically, waving his hand in the guy's line of sight. He waited for the silver eyes to look at him before he gave him a sheepish smile and asked, “Do you have a pen I could borrow… I was late and forgot mine…” 

The raven haired young man blinked and jerked back from the hand waving in front of him. He looked at the brunette dumbly for a moment as he spoke and Levi heard nothing while the other man’s lips moved. “I can’t hear you,” he repeated, reaching to carefully remove his headphones with an air of exasperation, holding them around his neck as he looked at the other boy, focused on his chest instead of his face, uncomfortable with the eye contact with someone he didn’t know. “What do you want?” he asked straightforwardly, still leaned away as far as he could be without getting out of his seat and waiting impatiently for an answer, fully expecting the other male to repeat whatever he’d said before.

“U-um…” Eren stuttered, leaning back and looking upset from the kids hostility. He really did act like Eren was a leper. “Just was asking if I could borrow a pen…” Eren muttered, looking away as a hand lifted up to rub the back of his head. 

Levi tilted his head a little, considering. He didn’t like to let people he wasn’t familiar with touch his things, didn’t lend things out because they might not be the same when he got them back or he might not get them back at all which might be worse. “What for?” he questioned as if the answer might make a difference. It wouldn’t, but he wanted to know anyways. Why did he need to borrow one when he should have his own?

"The notes..." Eren said with exasperation gesturing towards the board and getting caught in the man's eyes forcing him tongue tied, which Eren Jaeger was simply not accustomed. Usually he was charming enough to get what he wanted out of people without any effort, but this guy seemed to be immune to his natural good looks and charisma. Shaking his head and throwing his hands up slightly in defeat, he leaned forward to tap the girl in front of him on the shoulder and whispered something in her ear when she turned around. She turned bright red then passed him a pen saying too loudly that he could keep it. 

“Mr. Jaeger… Is my class too boring for you this semester?” Hange suddenly asked loudly, a slight smirk on her mouth. She had had Eren as a student in previous lectures and they had a very good relationship that also included a healthy dose of teasing. 

The entire class turned in their seats to look back at Eren, but he was completely undeterred. “Of course not Doctor!” Eren said aghast with a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. “You are my favourite professor. I wouldn't have even taken this class at this time, but you weren't teaching any other time slots,” he said with teasing flirtation, smiling wildly at the woman at the front of the room, “To make up for disrupting your class, I'll bring you a coffee to our next lecture.” 

“Large, four cream, six sugar,” she said then turned back to writing on the board. 

Eren just rolled his eyes as the class faced forward, laughing at Hange’s antics. He had bought her so many coffees over the last couple semesters, he was sure that was the only reason she singled him out anymore. 

Levi watched the exchanges between the brunette and the girl in front of him and also the subsequent interaction with the doctor with some interest, fascinated by how easily and smoothly he maneuvered through them both, how simple it was for the girl to just hand over the requested pen without any question and even to go so far as to _give_ it to him when it was hers. It wasn’t even a gift, so why’d she just hand it over like that? Were she and the brunette male next to him friends? Were _Jaeger_ , and Dr. Hange friends? They seemed friendly…

It was then he realized that everyone was looking their way and he frowned, straightening in his seat again and fidgeting with the cube in his hands to distract himself as he started repeating interesting words in his head to soothe the anxiety he was feeling from both his curiosity and the equally curious looks pointed their way. “Stop looking,” he murmured under his breath, not really towards any one individual in particular, not even fully aware he’d verbalized the thought; he was sure he’d only meant to say it in his head, but it came out his mouth instead, “Mikasa said it’s rude to stare; it’s a rule.”

No one had heard him speak except Eren who actually turned to look at him in confusion before he turned back to his syllabus to write down all of Hange’s information. He continued to bite his lip though, unhappy with the entire exchange and unhappy that he had somehow made his neighbor upset. 

Class seemed to drone on after that. Going over the syllabus was always pointless since it was almost the same for every class. Eren passed the time by folding an origami crane out of a piece of paper he ripped from his notebook. When Hange dismissed the class, Eren quickly packed up his things and even handed the pen back to the girl in front of him although she protested. He was about to turn and walk away when he noticed the guy still sitting there quietly gathering his own stuff. 

Eren turned back and shifted from one foot to the other in front of the man waiting for him to notice that he was still there. “Sorry for bothering you during class… Won't happen again…” he said when their eyes met once again, “Hope you have a good start to the semester…” Eren set the crane he made on the desk between them then turned away to make his way to his next class. He felt better after apologizing and he thought he would get to class earlier and sit farther away so he wouldn't bug the guy again. Even if he was curious and wanted to get to know the silver eyed beauty it didn't seem like the man was interested in being Eren's friend anyway. 

Levi hadn’t said anything else, just replaced his headphones and began scrawling down music bars in between the lines of his notebook. At first, he didn’t really notice the movement, but a subtle vibration to the desk had him glancing over at the brunette, caught by the precise motions of his fingers as he folded a paper repeatedly in his hands in a pattern that Levi was unfamiliar with. He tried to look away and continue what he was doing, but kept being drawn back by the curiosity to know what it was that the other male was making. He looked away again when Eren stood up, and he took his time adjusting his headphones, hanging them around his neck for the moment as he packed up, catching sight of the finished paper crane as he tucked his notebook away in his backpack. 

He looked up at his deskmate when the brunette started talking and quickly dropped his eyes when they met with a pair of very green and imploring ones. He inclined his head to acknowledge that he had heard him, but was quiet for too long after. “I wasn’t bothered,” Levi said finally though the other male had already turned away and headed down the steps towards the door. He looked down at the origami again, staring at it for a long moment before he reached out and picked it up, holding it up to examine it with interest, trying to figure out how all those random folds had turned into something so intricate and pretty. He liked the sharp lines and creases, liked how they fit together. He tilted his head, retracing them again, itching to dismantle it and figure out the pattern, but not wanting to ruin it. 

He blinked and slipped it into his pocket as Dr. Hange approached him with a bright smile. He threaded the buckles on his messenger bag as she sauntered down the row of seats in front of his own and leaned on his desk familiar, and far enough away to be comfortable. 

“So how’s your first day been so far Levi? You could hear me just fine, right?” she questioned in a cheerful tone. Levi always wondered why she was always so cheerful; she was always smiling too. She was so weird. 

“Boring. It’s always the same on the first day. And I could hear you. These headphones are the newest and best quality model equipped with streaming, bluetooth, and noise cancellation settings,” he answered bluntly, touching the headphones as he talked about them. 

Hange hummed, impressed and still smiling, “I noticed you made friends with Eren.”

“I didn’t. We didn’t even introduce ourselves. Erwin says the first step in building a friendship is making introductions and we didn’t, so we aren’t friends,” he said pointedly, his brow furrowing, trying to understand how she could have been so mistaken. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. There’s always next time to introduce yourself. I’m sure if you asked him, Eren would show you how he made the crane,” came her immediate and knowing response, though he didn’t understand any of the insinuations she was making. 

“Why would I do that?”

“Why not?”

He didn’t have an answer readily available. Though there had been a few annoyances, on the whole, his deskmate hadn’t been intolerable or even particularly irritating, so he couldn’t think of a logical response to her question. Unexpectedly flustered, he pulled on his headphones, excused himself and swiftly walked out of the lecture hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 


	2. Carmine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the wonderful support! We're happy to know people are appreciating our efforts to properly represent and hopefully spread awareness about ASD. Please enjoy this update and art at the end of the chapter.

The following lecture with Hange, Eren showed up relatively early and left a coffee on the doctor's desk. He actually looked quite put together even though it was so early, wearing a tight fitted green shirt and brown jeans that showed off the thickness of his thighs. Although there were many seats open, and a couple people that knew him offered him a seat, he made his way to the back of the class, taking the stairs two at a time to the seat he’d sat in last lecture, his gloomy classmate already seated. 

“Morning,” Eren greeted with a bright smile, sitting down and getting his class materials out to look prepared. He had no idea why he felt the need to impress the guy, but he did, and Eren hoped that he'd learn the man's name before he had to leave for his next lecture. 

“Morning,” Levi responded to the pleasantry because it was another one of those polite things people were supposed to do and because he had heard it directed towards him. His face remained neutral and he only spared Eren a glance before he shifted away and pulled on his headphones. His fingers found their way to his mouth and he jerked them away a moment later, seeking out his fidget toys instead, redirecting the nervous energy to a more suitable source rather than gnawing at his fingers as he was wont to do without the tools. 

The sound of Hange’s greeting was too loud in his ears and he was startled, grabbing at the headphones and yanking them off, shakily adjusting the settings on them, over cautious after the sudden loudness that had assaulted him seconds ago. 

“Everything alright Levi?” the lecturer called from the front of the room where she was propped lazily against her desk and looking at him over the frame of her glasses. 

“It’s fine now, you can continue,” he dismissed without looking up from what he was doing, busily rearranging the toys and items on his part of the desk, not yet ready to put the headphones back on but attempting to soothe the lingering buzz under his skin.

Eren smiled brightly to himself, but kept his eyes on his desk. He noticed that eye contact seemed to make Levi, _his name was Levi_ , uncomfortable. Hange started the lecture so he couldn't introduce himself. Instead, he ripped a page from his notebook and wrote, ‘I'm Eren, it's nice to meet you’, then slipped it onto the desk between them with a wrapped jolly rancher from the bag he had in his backpack. 

Levi read the note and turned towards Eren vaguely to answer, “I know, Dr. Hange said it last time. But that’s fine. Since you introduced yourself, it’s polite to do the same. I’m Levi Ackerman, but I guess it would be alright if you call me just Levi.” He looked at the wrapped candy that sat on the note for a long minute and then over at Eren without properly making eye contact. “Can I have that?” he asked, pointing at the Jolly Rancher unabashedly, without any discretion, completely missing Eren’s intention to make the introductions silently.

Eren looked back at Levi with surprise and he whipped his head forward to see if Hange’d heard. Surprisingly she was still droning on, but he did see her eyes drift towards them in silent reprimand. He quickly grabbed the note to write down his answer, feeling like a junior high student. 

‘Hange will get mad at me if we talk out loud… And every time I tried to talk to you our last lecture, you couldn't hear me cause of your headphones so I thought I'd write a note,’ he wrote hastily, face turning bright red as he scribbled. His eyes glanced up to Levi for a moment before he added a, ‘Yes, the candy was for you, I have a whole bag if you want more,’ at the end to answer Levi's question. 

Levi nodded his understanding and reached to unwrap the candy, popping it in his mouth and sucking on it contentedly, enjoying the burst of flavour from the hard candy on his tongue though it wasn’t his preferred flavour. He pushed it back and forth in his mouth, considering the words sloppily written on Eren’s note as he reread them. Finally, he picked up his pen and answered with a simple and direct, meticulously printed, ‘I like the red ones best’ and pushed the paper back over to Eren before he reached to put his headphones back on to properly listen to the lecture, though he already knew most of what Hange was saying.

Grabbing the candy bag out of his backpack, Eren picked out all the red candies and placed them on the desk for Levi to take as he listened to Hange and wrote the notes down in his notebook. Usually he liked to type out notes on his laptop, but he couldn't type and focus on Levi at the same time. Actually he shouldn't be focusing on Levi at all, but he was already familiar with the material so he wasn't worried about missing anything important. ‘You can have them if you want to be friends with me,’ Eren wrote then drew a little smiley face. 

Levi’s eyes scanned over the response and lingered on the pile of candies for a drawn out moment, weighing the pros and cons of accepting and trying to decipher whether or not they were already considered friends; after all, they’d introduced themselves. Was candy giving a usual sort of insurance for the foundation of a friendship? Would he be expected to reciprocate? Would Eren not want to be friends if he didn’t? And what was with that little smiley face? Was something funny and he just didn’t realize it?

He wet his lips, remembering what he could about the building of relationships. Gifts were natural, not to be expected, but appreciated when received, so Eren shouldn’t be expecting anything back, right? But his words implied he expected friendship in return… Levi didn’t have any friends aside from Erwin, his behavioural therapist, and Lancelot, his pet ferret, and neither of them had really required him to _do_ anything in specific. Well, it couldn’t hurt, he supposed. Surely if he didn’t like being friends with Eren, he could just stop.

He reached out and gathered the little pile of sweets in his hand before he tucked them away in his pocket for later, still sucking on the one he had in his mouth until it had completely disintegrated and belatedly realized Eren might be expecting a more direct answer. ‘Okay’ he wrote back plainly, sure that Eren would make his expectations known and if he didn’t, well Levi could always ask him to clarify when they weren’t in the middle of a lecture since Eren had expressed his reluctance to communicate verbally during the class.

Eren smiled brightly, his cheeks burning a little red at Levi's acceptance and his stomach doing a little flip. He felt like he’d won a great victory for some reason but he didn't analyze his own feelings for what they were, tracing Levi's silhouette in the corner of his eyes. Reaching over, he wrote, 'Great! Thank you, I'm happy!' then below he wrote out a series of numbers to give Levi his phone number. He thought maybe they could hang out sometime or study together. He couldn't believe how genuinely excited he felt about getting to know Levi better, he seemed very interesting even if he was a very blunt person. Eren didn't mind. He enjoyed getting to know new people. 

Hange was wrapping up her lecture and Levi was tired of listening, had already finished reading what she'd assigned. He was already finished the textbook anyways, had been before they'd even started the new semester, so it wasn't anything important she was saying anyhow. He flipped the setting on his headphones and pulled them off as he looked at the note again, shying away unconsciously when Eren was too close, recognizing the series of numbers as a phone number and digging his phone out of his pocket to habitually add it to the limited contacts on his list, satisfied when Eren Jaeger sat just above Erwin Smith as the first contact. He decided he liked the way it looked there before he closed out the contacts and slipped his phone back into his pocket, retrieving a candy as he retracted his hand again. He meticulously unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth with a little hum of appreciation before he glanced at Eren without saying anything, observing his body language and concluding that the other young man was less tense than he had been before and though Levi didn't fully grasp why his acceptance had that particular effect, he could tell Eren was happy as he'd said.

When the lecture was over, Eren stayed seated, fidgeting in his seat as he waited for Levi to talk to him. When he stood up and took a step to leave, Eren stood up as well. “So!” he started, stepping beside Levi so they could walk out of class together, “I guess we will talk soon then?” He was trying to hint that he hoped Levi would call or text him without sounding like a dork. 

Levi shifted away a pace or two from Eren but continued on towards the door and answered as he adjusted the strap of his bag to rest flat against his chest, “That would depend on what you consider soon, but using my own standard measurement of time, I’d say it’s pretty likely.” He had no idea that Eren was expecting a text or a call and assumed it was simply a general inquiry, but it was a probable prediction given that they would be seeing each other again during their next class together which was only a week away, one hundred and sixty-eight hours was really not that long in his opinion. “By the way, you should type your notes, you’re writing is atrocious,” he said in parting before he put his headphones on and tugged his hood up over his head, making a sharp left as he moved purposefully towards his next class. 

Eren stood with a red face, watching as Levi walked away with not so much as a goodbye. He looked like a kicked puppy. Lifting his hand to mess up his hair in frustration, he started walking towards his next class.

***

For the entire week, Eren continuously checked his phone, and jumped every time it buzzed, lifting it frantically to see if Levi had texted him. But the man never did, leaving Eren confused, embarrassed, and upset. If Levi didn't want to talk to him then fine, he thought as he entered Hange’s class. He glanced up and saw Levi in his usual spot, but when a group of people called his name to sit with them, instead of ignoring them like he had before, he purposely sat down and turned his back to Levi. He felt petty and childish, but he was seriously hurt that Levi didn't bother to text him like he said he would and he couldn't even text Levi first since he didn't get Levi's number.

Levi told Erwin, Mikasa, Kenny, and even Lancelot that he had made a friend when he was asked about how school had been going and was met with mostly support. Mikasa had been a little skeptical, but only because she worried. He knew why she did, though he didn’t understand why she always felt the need to protect him when people didn’t understand and made fun. It wasn’t bad, but he didn’t like when she got upset. Of course they all had questions too… Well except for Lancelot on account of being a ferret. He told them about the crane and about the candy and how terrible Eren’s writing was, how he tried to look at his eyes too much, but how it hadn’t really been bad at all. Eren had even given him his phone number. He’d been perhaps a little proud of himself since he’d made his first friend in college without any help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 


	3. Fuchsia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the third installment of this adorable fluff-fest! We're really glad you all have been supporting us with this and our other fics. W're working on lots of things right now, so rest assured there are more updates on the way. In the meantime, Enjoy~
> 
> And check out the cute art at the end of the chapter courtesy of XanderB.

So it was, when Eren didn’t sit with him during their following lecture, Levi stared at him, trying to figure out why Eren had decided to move seats for that particular day. It was especially baffling after the other male had been so adamant about talking again soon when they’d last seen each other. He’d even brought something for him this time since Erwin had suggested he return the generous gesture from before. Mikasa had helped him sort it out, and made him the cookies he liked, the ones that were covered in powdered sugar and melted in his mouth. He was sure Eren would like them too. 

He could see Eren laughing and talking with a group of people that must be his friends too. Well that made sense then. Maybe Eren had just needed to talk to his other friends during this lecture. He could wait to give him the cookies after class, he would just have to make sure his things were already packed away before the lecture was over.

Eren fidgeted throughout the entire class as he typed on his laptop, suddenly too self conscious to write out his notes. It was also weird being in a new seat in a different part of the lecture hall, and he had to resist the urge to turn around and look back at Levi literally the entire period. He felt like a complete loser, so when Hange finished up the lecture, Eren threw all of his stuff into his bag then almost ran out of the classroom, trying to get away from his embarrassment as quickly as possible. 

“Hey Eren Jaeger, wait,” Levi called as he hurried after the other male, weaving awkwardly around other students in order to avoid getting too close to any of them as he tried to catch up to the brunette. He didn’t want to have to wait another week to give him the cookies; they’d be stale by then and they were much better when they were fresh. 

For a moment, Eren almost wanted to speed up, move faster away from the source of his rejection. But in the end, he didn't, slowing to a stop in an empty section of the corridor to wait for Levi to catch up. He stood with his arms crossed and shoulders tense, not knowing what Levi wanted from him. 

Levi came to an abrupt halt a couple feet from Eren and held out the little box Mikasa had packed the cookies in for him towards the other young man. “You should pay more attention when you are walking in the halls, most slips and falls happen because of inattentiveness,” he said by way of greeting as his gaze flickered to Eren’s face for a long moment, briefly meeting his narrowed eyes before his own shifted away again and he fidgeted his feet, swaying a little as he waited for Eren to accept the box, “I brought you cookies. I ate one, but there are still a lot in there so don’t worry. Mikasa made two batches to be sure.”

Frowning, Eren took the box and looked from the cookies to Levi and back again. A little blush formed on his cheeks against his will and he mumbled, "Thanks," before he pulled off his backpack to put the cookies away. Shifting from one foot to the other, feeling incredibly awkward, he finally worked up the courage to ask, "Why didn't you text me? You said we would speak soon... And I waited around all week..." Eren sighed loudly, before he rubbed the back of his neck. "If you don't wanna talk and be friends, I understand... I won't force you," he finished sadly, finally looking Levi in the eyes. 

Levi’s brows furrowed in confusion, staring at the space between Eren's to avoid having to meet his stare. “You didn’t say to text you. We are speaking right now; it’s been less than one hundred and sixty-eight hours, that’s a week, so it is soon enough isn’t it? Did you want to talk sooner? Where and when? Should I text you? How often and at what time would be appropriate? You didn’t have a cookie, do you not like them? If not, what would you like better?” he asked in quick succession, immediately moving to dig out a notebook and pen from his book bag to make note of what Eren said. It helped for him to remember and would hopefully facilitate in this friendship thing.

“U-Um…” Eren spluttered, eyes widening at the slew of questions. It sort of felt like an interrogation and he had a hard time answering since this was the most eye contact Levi had ever held with him. “I-uh… I just wanted to talk to you more… outside of class which is why I gave you my number… but you didn't give me yours so I couldn't text you first and when you didn't text me, I got kind of upset ‘cause I wanted to hear from you and then I didn't so I thought you didn't like me and that I was bothering you with trying to talk to you at all and, and… and,” Eren rambled, the blush now covering his entire face and working his way down his neck, “You can text me whenever you want to… And the cookies are great. I just try not to stand and eat at the same time because it's bad for digestion… Don't really know why you are giving me cookies, but I'd never turn down free food..” His voice trailed off, looking down in embarrassment.

Levi blinked a handful of times, processing Eren's answers and jotting down notes that seemed relevant and important, then tucked the notebook away in his bag again. “I see. I wasn't bothered. You stare too much sometimes and get too close too fast which is annoying, but you make interesting things out of paper, have good taste in candy and a nice voice, so I don't dislike you. I'll text you then. And the cookies are because we're friends. Erwin said it would be a polite return gesture since you gave me candy. It's good that you like them. I have to go now,” he elaborated before he abruptly turned on his heel and didn't glance back at Eren as he maneuvered his way through the busy hallway to get to his next class of the day.

Eren stared after Levi for a long moment, frozen where he stood in the hall. "Was that... good?" he asked himself out loud, making other students turn and look at him like he was crazy as they walked past. Eren pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, staying still for another few seconds before he let go and made his way towards his own class. This whole situation was giving him a large headache, but somehow he couldn't force himself to leave Levi alone.

It was several hours later, past dinner and it was dark out, probably late, but that was okay. Levi always liked the quiet that came at night. He just closed his eyes and laid still on his bed while he let his thoughts wander, thinking about how he hadn't been to the planetarium since the week before. He'd went on Monday because he couldn't go on Sunday like he usually did and had been annoyed by the truant teenagers that always seemed to be there on Mondays, kissing obnoxiously while he was trying to appreciate the spread of planets and stars replicated from the sky overhead. He'd at least had his headphones so that he wouldn't have to hear the noises. 

Then he wondered if kissing was always like that for teenagers and if maybe they just grew out of it during adulthood. Or maybe it was one of those things that was different for each person. Media, movies and books made it confusing since they all seemed so similar but were somehow not quite the same and not all of them made wet sounds like the ones he witnessed between adolescents. He'd have to ask Erwin about it, but he wouldn't be seeing Erwin until Friday afternoon. It seemed like something he could ask a friend. Speaking of friends, he thought about Eren, wondered if he knew anything about the intricacies of kissing; he probably did, a lot more than Levi did at any rate. And then his train of thought came full circle. Erwin had mentioned that friends went on outings together, did things they mutually enjoyed and generally had fun together and Levi hadn't had any company besides Mikasa and sometimes Kenny when they weren't busy and he went to look at the stars. Maybe Eren liked that kind of thing too.

He plucked his phone from his nightstand and squinted when the screen lit under his fingertips. With no regard for the appropriateness of the late hour or the consideration that Eren might be asleep, he pulled up his contact and texted him a brusque message.

_From +1xxxxxxxxxx:_

Do you like constellations?

Eren's phone buzzed and Eren frowned, turning off the show he was binging on Netflix to dig around in his bed to find the device. 

**Eren Jaeger:** Um… yes? 

He sent the text message then sat there perplexed. Until he realized which person this number might belong to. 

**Eren Jaeger:** is this Levi?

Levi squinted at his phone and hummed to himself, thumbing in his response surreptitiously, distracted and baffled as to why Eren seemed to be surprised to receive his message. Hadn’t he been expecting it? Had he misunderstood?

_From +1xxxxxxxxxx_

You said I could text you whenever. Is this not a good time? If not, you should have said so and what would be a better time to contact you?

 **Eren Jaeger:**   
nononononono!   
It's fine!   
Just double checking to make sure it was you!  
:):):P  
you can text me anytime   
I don't mind  
I might not reply right away every time if I'm busy or whatever but yeah you can text me whenever you feel like it  
I do like stars!   
My favourite constellation is Orion<3<3<3 

Levi shifted, rubbing his sock clad feet together unconsciously as he felt himself get a little excited about sharing an interest with his new friend. That was a good thing. They could go on outings together, probably. That was progress.

_Levi:_

I also like Orion best. Did you know it can only be seen between the months of September and April? Unless you go to the planetarium. Then you can see it all year. Have you been to the planetarium? Don’t go on Mondays; I only go on Monday if I can’t go on Sunday which isn’t often thankfully.

 **Eren Jaeger:**  
I have been before!!!   
Not for a long time though.   
Is it the one at the science centre?  
Have you ever gone to the universities observatory?   
We should go together  
It would be fun 

Levi frowned. He used to go to the observatory on campus a lot but last year, some of the frat boys had thought it would be fun to play a prank on him and lock him inside and play metal music through the speakers. It was okay in the end, but he hadn’t liked it, though they’d seemed to think it was really funny until Mikasa had come to find him and yelled at them too loudly because she was mad and worried. He hadn’t gone back since. Maybe it would be alright though if Eren was with him; he would not be alone and Mikasa wouldn’t be upset again.

_Levi:_

Yes, that’s the one. You should go again soon, they have updated a lot of the exhibits.

I’ve been to the observatory before but I don’t really like to go there anymore. But since you invited me, I could try again. It might be different now. Erwin says you can’t let every bad experience hold you back from trying again. He said some risks are worth taking, though I’m still finding out which ones those are.

 **Eren:**

:( bad experience?   
I don't wanna go if you don't wanna   
We could go to the planetarium instead  
You could show me your favourite exhibits   
You probably know a lot more about it than I do   
 (heart)(heart)(heart)

Levi pursed his lips, fingers hovering for a moment over the keys, thinking and trying to ignore the fatigue that had been catching up to him. He yawned into the side of his pillow and huffed in annoyance as he replied quickly, then plugged his phone into the dock to charge it as he closed his eyes to sleep.

_Levi:_

It wasn’t pleasant and it was too loud, and the sound was ugly, so I got a little anxious and Mikasa got upset, now I avoid it in case. But I like the planetarium despite Mondays. My favourite exhibit is the aurora borealis, the northern lights. It’s really interesting and the colours are pretty like music with no words. And that’s likely. I know a lot about the sky. I’m going to sleep now.

 **Eren Jaeger:**

Oh… okay <3 have a good sleep Levi 

Levi of course did not respond as he had already curled up on his side to sleep. He dreamt about the aurora and Eren and for some reason kissing though he couldn’t remember exactly how it had happened and who had been doing the actual kissing, it had just been the weird muffled wet sounds and it faded when he woke up in the morning. He didn’t put much thought to it, deciding he definitely wanted to go to the planetarium with Eren but it wasn’t Sunday. Would Eren want to go on Sunday? He’d seemed pretty agreeable to it the previous night and Levi had said he went on Sundays, so Eren should know already. He would just get an extra ticket in case since Eren wasn't likely to have a pass like Levi did. He’d ask Erwin on Friday if there was any specific method to planning these outings that he should be aware of and whether or not he should remind Eren. He didn’t text the other male for the whole day, busy with Lancelot and getting wrapped up in his composing once he’d come home again. He was feeling so inspired the last few days.

Eren was busy with classes and catching up with friends for most of Friday, but his text conversation with Levi stayed at the back of his mind the entire time. When he had finally got back to his condo apartment, Eren flopped on the couch and texted Levi, hoping that he would be answered. 

**Eren Jeager:**

Hey! So we never did set a day or time to go to the planetarium.   
You said you normally go on Sundays...   
wanna go together this Sunday?     

Eren felt like a total loser, but he got the sense that if he didn't directly state the plans with Levi, they wouldn't go together. After the previous misunderstanding, Eren knew he had to make more of an effort if he did want them to hang out. 

Levi was in the bathtub when Eren texted and he did not answer until he had gotten out, dried off, redressed and gotten into bed.

_Levi:_

I already got a ticket for you. What time?

Eren almost pissed himself laughing when he read the text, wondering if he was finally getting the hang of interacting with Levi. He texted Levi the time but he never got a response back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 


	4. Vermillion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the lovely support! Here's the fourth chapter of this quirky fluff fic and more chibi art courtesy of XanderB at the end! Enjoy~

Saturday passed too quickly and too slowly at the same time. He didn't even know why he was so nervous to hang out with Levi, but he knew he was; staying up most of the night worrying. He ended up sleeping in and then couldn't figure out what to wear. He ended up wearing a black tank top with white shorts since it was an unseasonably warm day. He had to run all the way from the train station to the centre, breathing hard as he saw Levi's silhouette waiting for him. 

“Hey! I just made it,” Eren said between breaths, giving Levi a bright smile. Just the sight of the man made Eren's stomach do flips. He really did not want to examine the reason. 

“You’re late,” Levi said in greeting, tucking away his fidget toys in the front pocket of his purple hoodie and producing the ticket he’d obtained for Eren. He thrust it out to him as he continued, “You said you hadn’t been here in a while; did you get lost?”

"Umm," Eren said with a frown, digging his phone out of his pocket to check the time. Two minutes passed one. Well _technically_ he was late. "No... I guess I lost track of time... I'm sorry," Eren amended with a sheepish smile before he dug out his wallet. "How much do I owe you?" he asked, about to pull out some cash for the ticket. 

“Apology accepted. You should leave earlier next time. And you don’t owe me; we’re friends. Follow me; it’s starting,” Levi dismissed, turning away from Eren abruptly and leading the way into the theater where the stars would be projected over a man made velvet sky. Once inside, he led the way to his favourite seats, right in the middle and took his usual one, fidgeting in anticipation as the first soft lilting strains of the melody they played during the show began and an unconscious little smile formed on his mouth.

Eren followed Levi to their seats, getting comfortable beside him as the show started. It must have been only a couple minutes in when he glanced to the side only to see Levi smile for the first time. Eren thought his heart would stop just from seeing the small upward curve of Levi’s lips. He spent the entire show trying to covertly watch the way Levi lit up; it was much more interesting to watch than the display.

Levi was able to ignore Eren’s proximity, shifting to avoid making any accidental physical contact with him without conscious thought and arching away from the back of the seat where the buttons pinned into the fabric were located. He didn’t like the feel of them, but as long as he avoided leaning back in the seat, he could enjoy the show. He lolled his head back on his shoulders, eyes alight with the false galaxies swirling overhead as he watched with the same fascinated interest he always did though he’d seen it probably hundreds of times before. His hands kneaded at the armrests restlessly, forever fidgeting, unaware of how close his fingers were to brushing Eren’s until he felt the too ticklish ghosting of the tips against warm, smooth skin.

He glanced over at Eren and jerked back from the almost ticklish contact, hand clenching and unclenching to remove the unpleasant tingling the too soft touch had left, averting his gaze when it unexpectedly met the other male’s. “Don’t stare. It’s rude to stare. You stare a lot… At me. Is it something weird?” his words were clipped and quick as he spoke and his gaze lingered on Eren’s shirt while his fingers began to knead and pick at his pants with anxious energy.

Eren immediately looked down and moved his hand away from Levi, face turning a violent shade of red from the little contact they did make and from getting caught staring _again_. "I'm... I'm sorry. I'll try to stop staring," he said, thanking the gods that the planetarium was empty except for them. He wished he had stopped speaking at that moment, but his mouth continued to move as he explained, "Your eyes are really pretty and I find you super interesting so my eyes kind of drift towards you without thinking about it..." Eren was finally able to bite his tongue, cursing himself for his nervous rambles. He turned his head away in embarrassment and even leaned away from Levi as well, wanting to bolt away from the situation. 

"Oh. Okay. It’s not bad if you look sometimes, just not for so long. I don’t like it. I have a hard time with maintaining eye contact with new people and it takes a while before I feel comfortable. It took two months with Erwin, but it’s fine now,” Levi answered, cocking his head as he tried to discern how Eren was feeling from his body language. “You’re embarrassed. Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I forget sometimes because I’m different,” he concluded after a second, sure he had appropriately identified what his friend was feeling and made amends though he wasn’t entirely sure what exactly he’d done to embarrass the other male.

Eren kept his eyes lowered but shook his head. "No it wasn't you," he explained, watching his hands as he wrung them in his lap, "I embarrassed myself... Don't worry about it, I'm the one in the wrong." In his embarrassment, he completely missed the part about Levi being different, but he had brought Erwin up enough times that it was beginning to bother Eren. "Is Erwin your boyfriend?" Eren asked, biting his lip and feeling very anxious about Levi's answer. 

Levi’s brow furrowed and he frowned slightly, vaguely confused by Eren’s question, not understanding how he had come to such a conclusion. Levi didn’t have a girlfriend or a boyfriend, never had before, not that he didn’t want to have one maybe… He was curious, but making friends was hard enough; he didn’t know if he was ready to even attempt something like _dating_. Maybe he’d ask Erwin about it. 

“Erwin’s my behavioral therapist and my friend. I see him on Fridays and sometimes on Tuesdays, but never Wednesdays because that’s when he takes his wife out to lunch. So no, he’s not my boyfriend though he is male and my friend,” he answered, somewhat amused by his own words in regards to the older man in question and how silly Eren’s assumption seemed. 

The confusion and amusement in Levi's voice made Eren curious enough to glance back at Levi who was full on looking directly at him with a befuddled expression. Eren looked down immediately though, trying to keep his promise about not staring but his mouth went from a vague unhappy frown to the beginnings of a smile. "Oh yeah... You just mention him a lot so I thought maybe you were close..." Eren elaborated, starting to relax more and get over his previous mortification. 

“We are close. He is a good friend and he’s very helpful. He told me you would probably like the cookies and he said it was good that I made friends with you. It’s progress since I don’t have very many and before him, I only had Lancelot. He’s my pet ferret. Do you like ferrets?” Levi questioned, changing the subject without pause or concern for the abruptness, his train of thought shifting quickly. The show was winding down, coming to a close with the northern lights reflected overhead and Levi wasn’t even disappointed that he didn’t get to appreciate them as much as he usually did, interested and curious about his new friend.

"Well I've never met a ferret in person," Eren said, completely unfazed by the topic change since he himself jumped from one topic to another quickly without even thinking about it. "I like watching videos of them on the internet... they look adorable," he concluded, not even noticing that the lights were turning on so that they could leave the show. He didn't budge though, perfectly happy where he was having a conversation with Levi.

“Well they’re very smart. You can teach them all sorts of things and they’re tricksters. They like to play jokes and they’re also notorious thieves. Lancelot steals all kinds of things, mostly shiny, but his favourite things to pilfer and hide are uncle Kenny’s silver lighter and Mikasa’s hair barrettes. He’s very clever considering his brain is only about the size of a walnut. Did you know that ferrets like to dance? Well domesticated ones do it just because it’s fun and that’s how you know they are happy and healthy, but wild ones do it mainly to hypnotize their prey,” Levi answered amiably, eagerly talking about his best friend to his new friend. The habits of ferrets were interesting and surely Eren’s previous response expressed curiosity. Levi was smiling just a little again as he shifted in his seat, bouncing his right leg and purposefully not acknowledging the fact that the show was over and they should be going. It would be fine lingering a few more minutes; he didn’t feel like leaving yet, though the chairs were uncomfortable and he was getting hungry.

Eren was about to answer when he saw an usher coming into the theatre looking annoyed that he couldn't clean while they sat there. Standing up, Eren said, “Hey, we should probably go before we get in trouble… I'll buy you a late lunch if you promise to tell me more about Lancelot.” He gave Levi a roguish grin that had scored him many numbers in the past but somehow felt that Levi would completely ignore it's charm. 

The short raven looked perplexed for a moment, brows pinching together as he followed Eren’s lead and stood up abruptly, glad to be off the uncomfortable buttoned cushion of the seat. He spent a few seconds straightening out his clothing before he glanced at Eren for a lingering moment and then away as he replied, “I was going to tell you about him anyway, but I’m hungry, so I’m not going to say no to lunch. Mm, where are we eating?” He was a bit picky when it came to eating, with both foods and environments. It couldn’t be too loud or too crowded and he wouldn’t like it if it was too fast paced either; it made him nervous when too many strangers bustled around him carrying food and beverages like that.

"Wherever you'd like," Eren said with a bright smile, turning to lead the way out of the aisle and then the theatre. "I'm starving since I missed breakfast and I'm not picky so I thought I'd treat you," he said, glancing back at Levi but trying to remember not to stare too much. He didn't want to make Levi uncomfortable again. 

Levi lagged behind Eren a few paces, watching his own feet as he followed the other young man out of the theater, taking his time to consider what he wanted to eat and how far away it was from where they were. He wanted chocolate, but that wasn’t lunch… “There is a place two blocks from here that makes really good ramen. Do you like ramen? My Uncle Kenny and Mikasa sometimes take me there for lunch,” he finally replied, still keeping a pace or two behind Eren.

Turning his head to look over his shoulder he gave Levi a big smile. "I love ramen. It's cheap and like one of my favourite foods!" he said, slowing his pace so that he could walk only slightly ahead of Levi instead of directly leading in single file. "What kind of tricks have you taught Lancelot?" he asked, ready to try and make conversation on the way to the restaurant.   
Levi looked at Eren’s temple for a moment before his gaze shifted back to where he was going as he answered, “He knows fetch and hide ‘n’ seek, somersault, and play dead. He likes to play tag and peek-a-boo too. And I take him for walks outside and to the pet store so he can pick out toys and stuff. You can come with me sometime if you wanted to.” Eren seemed pretty interested so Levi figured he might as well extend an invitation to the other male to meet and play with Lancelot sometime; it was normal for friends of friends to meet each other sometimes.

Eren started to answer him when he was cut off by a young woman’s firm voice. “Levi! Where are you going?! You didn’t text to say you were ready to go home,” Mikasa scolded as she came bustling towards the pair of young men, coming to an abrupt halt in front of her cousin and reached to grab his forearm. Levi let her, blinking in some confusion. 

“I’m not ready yet,” he said in a matter of fact tone. Hadn’t it been obvious since he _hadn’t_ texted her to be picked up? “I’m going to eat ramen with my friend, I’ll text you when I _am_ ready to go home,” he finished dismissively, prying her grip from his arm and patting the wrinkles out of his sleeve idly.

At the mention of his friend, Mikasa’s sharp, coal-grey eyes turned to Eren, running the length of him twice over suspiciously before she said, “Who’re you?”

Eren blinked hard for a moment, frozen by the woman's animosity, before a charming smile lifted on his face. “I'm Eren Jaeger,” he said cheerfully with a nod, “I met Levi in one of our classes at university. He treated me to the light show, so I'd thought I'd treat him to lunch… He didn't say he had to leave…” 

Mikasa narrowed her eyes as if she didn't believe what the brunette had said, as if he must be lying and really had some other nefarious intentions for her cousin. It wouldn't be the first time something like that had happened. She crossed her arms under her breasts and pursed her lips a moment before she opened her mouth, "Why would you want to--"

"I don't have to leave. I'm plenty old enough to stay out until I'm ready to go home. You know Erwin said so Mikasa," Levi interjected, staring at his cousin with a frown, "It's good for me to have independence. I'm not going to live with you and uncle Kenny forever. What if I meet someone and get married? Erwin said it's possible, that people like me fall in love and get married and even have kids like everybody else. You don't need to worry. Eren is my friend, the one we made the cookies for. We're going to eat ramen; Eren's treating me so I don't need money. You can go home now."

Mikasa's face reddened and she scowled at Levi, "Then I'm coming with you since I'm already here."

"You weren't invited, you can't come," Levi said simply in response. He’d heard those very same words a number of times over his life, though he’d only ever been able to say them a handful of times himself.

Mikasa pinched her nose and huffed in exasperation, used to Levi's bluntness, but evidently frustrated by it at the moment. She dropped her hand with a sigh and turned her attention to Eren. "I'm Mikasa Ackerman, Levi's cousin. Would it be alright if I tagged along for lunch, I'll pay for myself," she said in a chilly murmur, obviously not happy to be playing nice with the young man she had no trust in.

At the mention of marriage and children, a small blush formed on Eren's cheeks as he looked mildly embarrassed. He completely missed the whole 'people like me' bit. Eren could also sense Mikasa's agitation, so although he'd rather go to lunch with Levi alone, he felt like he should prove that he was a genuine person. "If Levi doesn't mind then sure! The more, the merrier," he said with what he hoped was a kind smile towards the woman. 

Mikasa nodded curtly. Maybe the jock was not as dumb as he looked and maybe he was a little more sincere than she’d thought, but that didn’t mean she was going to trust him with her cousin yet. He didn’t even seem to realize that Levi was… different. If Eren still wanted to be friends with him after he knew and knew what it meant, then maybe she’d think about it. “Levi?” she prompted, looking at the shorter man.

“Fine, but you have to be quiet. I don’t like it when you raise your voice. It’s an awful pitch,” Levi answered before he abruptly grabbed Eren’s wrist and tugged him back in the direction of the noodle house they had decided to eat at, not bothering to wait for Mikasa to follow them, annoyed that she was being so overbearing like usual. Eren was his friend and he was a grown man; she didn’t have to protect Levi from him.

Eren spluttered, his entire face now burning bright red as he was helplessly dragged along by Levi. Levi was touching him! Levi was actually making physical contact without getting upset. Eren felt embarrassed and elated at the same time, turning his head to give Mikasa an apologetic but helpless look. 

Mikasa rolled her eyes and heaved another annoyed sigh as she followed after her cousin and his new _friend_ , somewhat surprised by Levi’s initiation of contact; she hadn’t realized he’d built so much trust with the other male already. Then again, he could be reacting more rashly since he was clearly not happy she’d come to get him without his prompting. She just worried about him. People were so quick to judge and so ignorant and she just didn’t want him to get hurt; the world was an unkind place, especially to anyone who didn’t quite fit the mold.

Levi kept the firm grip on Eren’s wrist, the pressure pleasant rather than uncomfortable like the too light brush earlier; he liked hard touches. His fingers shifted and tightened minutely, his hand smooth and warm, pale against Eren’s contrasting tan skin as he briskly led the way to the restaurant and didn’t let go until they were inside the small establishment. It was quiet and calm, traditional in setting and service and Levi was relaxed as they stepped inside, the familiar smells and atmosphere putting him at ease. A tiny Asian woman greeted them with a sweet smile and a quiet voice and gestured to the table they would be seated at. 

Eren was instantly disappointed that Levi let go but wouldn't press his luck by chasing the contact. He sat down first and picked up the menu to scan his options so he wouldn't stare at Levi instead, humming to himself as he wondered which seat Levi would pick. Would he sit right beside Eren or across? Either option was going to be awkward for Eren. Proximity was always desired; he knew it made Levi uncomfortable, but if he was across from Eren, Eren knew he would have a hard time not staring. "I've never been here before..." he said, breaking the sudden silence, "Anything you guys recommend?" He wanted to just ask Levi for his opinion, but he didn't want to make Mikasa feel left out or like a third wheel, even though she was.

Levi took the seat across from Eren, comfortable in the smooth chairs provided. He glanced at Eren as the other male looked at his menu and asked for a recommendation. "I get the miso," he supplied in response. It was the only one on the menu that he liked.

Mikasa snorted amusedly, "That's because it's the only one that comes without meat; it’s the only one you'll eat without a fuss," she said, smiling when Levi gave her a nonplussed look, before she acknowledged Eren. "Pretty much all of them are delicious, though I'd recommend the pork cutlet bowl for a first visit."

"Oh! Are you a vegetarian?" Eren asked, jumping on a small piece of information given about Levi. "I tried it once, during highschool... it was so damn hard but I was starving all the time because I didn't do it correctly and was losing a ton of weight then my coach convinced me to eat meat again. I really love animals but damn is it hard..." Eren rambled along happily. 

“I’m not. I don’t care for the texture of most meats. If it had to be labeled, it would be more apt to say pescatarian since I like fish, but only the raw kind for sashimi. It’s disgusting cooked,” Levi answered, “Why did you try to be vegetarian if you didn’t know how to properly balance your diet?”

“Picky,” Mikasa murmured teasingly though Levi ignored her entirely. She shook her head and placed her order then Levi’s when it seemed he was too distracted to do it himself.

Eren quickly ordered the miso and the pork cutlet bowl to try both then looked back at Levi and Mikasa with a sheepish smile. “I was young and have a tendency to be impulsive... Still do but I’m working on it. Plus with regular workouts and a growth spurt to contend with at the time I didn’t quite realize how many calories I needed to consume to maintain my body weight,” he explained, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, “I got a proper scolding by my doctor so don’t worry... Now I try to do meatless Mondays!” 

Mikasa looked like she wanted to say something, but Levi spoke up before she’d had the chance to comment on Eren’s _impulsiveness._ She was pretty sure she knew just who Eren was now that she really looked at him; she’d seen the youtube videos from the frat house he belonged to.

“We could have lunch on Mondays then or is breakfast better? We could have dinner, but then you’d have to come to my house since I’m supposed to be home for dinner,” Levi said idly, extending the invitation to his friend without much thought. After Levi had told him about the texting mishap, Erwin had said he had to take initiative, that friendships needed effort on both sides. According to Erwin, he couldn’t let Eren do all the work; he had to reciprocate like with the candy and cookies. 

When Levi had argued that he and Erwin were friends and did not speak more than once or twice a week, his therapist had asked how much time he spent with Lancelot which was a lot more. And then he’d told Levi that he should think of his friendship with Eren more like the one he had with his ferret, only, unlike Lancelot, he had to remember that Eren was another person and could misunderstand if he wasn’t communicative enough. It sounded difficult and he was sure he would forget often, but he would try; just because he was different didn’t mean he wanted to be left behind. He was already a “late bloomer” according to his uncle Kenny. And he didn’t like being late.

Eren’s eyes widened at the invitation then perked up instantly at Levi’s offer, a bright smile spreading across his face before a blush burned on his cheeks. He quickly lifted a hand to cover his embarrassing over eager smile but nodded his head enthusiastically at Levi’s suggestion. “I have classes in the morning and practise in the afternoon, but we could eat before class or during my spare or I even get a break to eat between weight training and field training, whenever you want. I’m not picky. I found a couple vegetarian places around the city and on campus, but, I’m always open to trying something new if you wanna eat somewhere specific since your sister said you’re picky! Which isn’t a bad thing! I don’t mind eating at your house as well though you should ask your family; I don’t want to intrude. My family is all the way in Shiganshina and my best friend went to Princeton so it’s been pretty lonely here living by myself the last couple years which is why I joined a whole bunch of clubs and a fraternity to make friends,” he said in quick succession as he started to almost bounce up and down in his seat where his leg tapped beneath him restlessly. Levi’d invited him somewhere! To eat! Eren thought his heart would jump out of his chest

“Right. Good then, I’ll text you,” Levi replied agreeably, staring at Eren’s smiling mouth, deciding it was a pleasant image and feeling a sort of warm fuzzy sensation that he wasn’t sure if he liked or not; if inviting him out made Eren smile like that, Levi thought he’d have to invite him other places too.

“ _Levi,_ ” Mikasa’s voice was chastising and he turned his gaze to her reluctantly.

He blinked boredly, clearly unhappy with her tone and interruption, “What?” She was being so annoying.

Mikasa pursed her lips for a long moment, before she heaved an exasperated sigh. Their server brought their food just as she was about to scold him further and he looked away from her to Eren pointedly. She’d have to talk to him later; there was no point arguing with him when he was like this anyway.

“What’s field training for?” Levi asked Eren, completely dropping the dialogue with his cousin, meticulously rubbing the provided wooden chopsticks together to remove any slivers and staring at his steaming bowl intently.

Eren’s smile instantly dropped the moment he heard Mikasa’s tone. Did he say something wrong? Maybe he was being too eager? Was he making Levi uncomfortable? Why was this so hard? Usually making friends and plans was the simplest thing he could do to the point he couldn’t get them all straight. But he _liked_ Levi; it was all clear now. The race of his heart, the sweat on his palms. Maybe Mikasa could tell he was gay and knew Levi was straight and Eren was making a fool out of himself? His worried gaze jumped from Levi to Mikasa and back again as he bit his lip to stop himself from rambling on again. Obviously he had to tone it down and rein it in. 

Giving his head a little shake as he chastised himself internally, Eren ducked his head and mirrored Levi’s movements, cracking his chopsticks then looked down at his meal. It looked delicious, but for some reason in his worry, he wasn’t as hungry as he’d been before. His hand hovered over his dish for a moment before Levi’s question floated to his ears. He glanced up once before he looked back down and said, “Field training can be a lot of things; drills for stickhandling, passing, or learning a new strategy with teammates.” Eren finally took a bite of the pork cutlet and swallowed, too stressed out in the moment to truly appreciate how good it tasted then added, “Practise is closed to the public… but I could get you a pass if you ever want to watch…”

Levi’s eyes flickered up from his food to the young man across from him, “Practise for what?” he asked, completely ignorant of what Eren was referring to. Likely an organized sport, but Levi didn’t know much about those things. He’d never had much interest since he’d never been allowed to play. But if Eren was inviting him to watch, he wasn’t going to refuse; he was curious enough to want to see for himself. Mikasa snorted quietly and shook her head, but didn’t say anything else, tucking into her meal for the moment; it was pretty obvious to her that the jock had no clue what he was getting himself into.

Eren looked up bewildered, blinking for a moment as he regarded Levi. “Oh sorry! I guess I shouldn’t assume that everyone knows about the team…I am the captain of the lacrosse team. We’ve won nationals five years running, and I plan on doing it again this season,” Eren explained, a proud smile lifting on his face. “You guys should come to the home game! It’s pretty fun; loud with lots of cheering and there’s a half time show and all that. I could get free tickets for you and your friends if you’d like. They usually sell out pretty quickly,” he added excitedly, nodding towards Mikasa as well. 

“Okay,” Levi answered simply, “One is fine. I don’t want to bring anyone else.” And with that he completely ignored Mikasa’s unimpressed scoff and dug into his food, taking his time, blowing on each bite before he put it in his mouth. If it was loud, he’d just bring his headphones.

Mikasa shook her head again and looked to Eren, “If you don’t mind, I think having an extra ticket just in case he changes his mind is a good idea. When is it anyway?” She was going with him to that game no matter what her cousin said. That kind of event could be a lot for him to handle.

“Sure of course! I can get you both a ticket,” Eren said with a nod, “It’s the Saturday after next. We are playing our rivals so it’s going to be pretty rowdy.” There was a glint of determination in Eren’s eyes before he looked back to his food and started shovelling it in in earnest. He hadn’t had anyone come cheer him on in a long time; it fired him up even more than he already was. 

“Is it that fun?” Levi asked curiously, watching Eren’s expression shifting giddily. Mikasa played soccer, but Levi had never really seen the appeal in it and had never gone to any of her games. But maybe Lacrosse was different, more exciting or something.

Eren cocked his head at Levi with his mouth full of food. Swallowing hard, he smacked his chest to help it go down then managed to say simply, “I like it.”

Eren’s movement for some reason and the expression on his face while his mouth was full reminded Levi so much of Lancelot with his favourite treats that he laughed, the sound abrupt, but amused and not at all malicious. Mikasa pinched his side under the table and he shifted away from her, “Ow. What?”

“It’s rude to laugh without letting people in on the joke Levi,” Mikasa elaborated sternly.

“I wasn’t making a joke,” he argued, brow furrowing, “I was just thinking that Eren has the same kind of table manners as Lancelot. It’s cute and funny, so I laughed.”

Mikasa nearly choked on the sip of tea she’d just taken and couldn’t even speak to either apologize for or scold her cousin. And Levi just blinked at her a minute before he looked back towards his friend and smiled again.

Meanwhile, Eren was frozen with his jaw dropped, looking dumbstruck. He’d never seen Levi smile like that before. It was fucking beautiful. 

Eren could feel his face quickly heat up into a cherry tomato and he abruptly stood up. “I- uh-... I’m gonna go pay for our food… I… um… yeah, I’ll be right back,” then quickly sped away from their table, heart racing. From the look on the waitress's face he looked as embarrassed as he felt, her sly smile and wink once he was finished paying making it even worse. What the hell was that? 

Levi was finishing up his meal leisurely as Mikasa hissed at him, “Levi!”

“ _What?_ You didn’t have to come if you were just going to be annoying the whole fucking time Mika,” he snapped, pushing his bowl away from him and glaring at her.

She gave him that same exasperated look she always did when he was being difficult, “You can’t just say things like that even if someone is your friend! It’s rude!”

“You’re rude! I don’t need a babysitter! You came early even though I didn’t call you because you don’t think I can make friends on my own,” he rebuffed, face scrunching with irritation as he began to fidget uncontrollably. 

“This is exactly why I worry about you. You didn’t even think about how what you said might affect your _friend_. You could have hurt Eren’s feelings or embarrassed him. He doesn’t even know about your--”

“About my what Mika?”

“About **you** ,” the young woman huffed, rolling her eyes heavenwards.

“He’ll get to know me! That’s part of being friends Mika! Erwin told me so. You aren’t my mom, so stop trying to act like you are. You’re being a nuisance! I can handle making my own friends!” he stood up abruptly, movements jerky and he couldn’t keep still as he paced away from her, pulling his favourite fidget spinner from his pocket and sending it racing between his fingers agitatedly, looking away from her for Eren and back again. 

“Besides, you don’t _know_ Mika. Even if I embarrassed him, Eren wasn’t upset. I know what he looks like when he’s upset and he won't care even if I'm different. He’s my friend, not yours so you wouldn’t know that.” 

Mikasa deflated some, effectively defeated for the moment. “Fine, I hope you're right about him. I’ll wait for you at the end of the block when you’re ready,” she conceded finally and moved to go pay for herself before she left her cousin to say his goodbyes, catching Eren’s eye briefly as she passed by him.

“Oh I paid for you already,” Eren called after Mikasa, but she only kept on her way out the door instead of to the till. Eren blinked then stepped towards Levi, looking nervous. “Is everything okay?” he asked, wondering how Levi went from smiling to looking more pissed off then Eren had ever seen him. 

“No… Yes! I'm just mad at her,” Levi answered, still moving restlessly on his feet and fiddling with the toy between his fingers. “She's being an asshole. She's always going on about how being different shouldn't hold me back and then she acts like I can't make my own fucking choices. I'm **older** than her for Christ's sake.” He paused abruptly and sucked in a breath.

“Sorry if I embarrassed you. I didn't mean to. I forget sometimes that some things should stay in my head,” he said in a softer tone, still fidgeting and unable to look properly at Eren, staring at his chest intently.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m easily embarrassed,” Eren said, grinning down at Levi as he suddenly gained confidence, “Especially when a gorgeous guy like you says I’m cute… You can compliment me all you want.” His grin turned lopsided as he shrugged his muscular shoulders and stuffed his hands in his pockets nonchalantly. _That’s the way to do it Jaeger_ he thought to himself, hoping that Levi would be receptive to his flirting, or at least not reject him too harshly. 

Levi blinked and blinked again before he realized he was looking at Eren’s face, specifically right at his eyes because he wasn’t sure exactly if he was reading the words Eren had said properly and he definitely recognized, but didn’t understand the tone he was saying them in because no one had ever used it when talking to him before. “Um, you mean… that is, you think I’m attractive? Are you homosexual?” he asked suddenly, dropping his gaze simultaneously as his ears pinked; he was getting that weird fuzzy sensation again. 

Eren’s eyes widened then he cringed painfully, taking a giant step back from Levi like he’d burned him. Looking around, he noticed people in the restaurant were starting to look over at them, wondering what the fuss was about. “We… should… we should head out. We are in the way…” he suggested, turning away from Levi before he could say another word, hackles instantly raised. 

His steps were long, striding out from the restaurant, as his heart pounded in his chest. He knew Levi was following closely behind, aware of his presence, so when he felt like they were a safe distance away from prying eyes and ears, he whirled around to face him, causing Levi to stumble a step backwards. “I am gay. Is that a problem?” he asked, face stony. Eren had experienced homophobia enough that maybe he was being a little too defensive, but it was hard to relax when he’d been burned one too many times. 

Levi brushed himself off, frowning and looking at his friend, head cocked vaguely in confusion. “Problem? Why would it be a problem? Isn’t it just a natural part of the spectrum of human sexuality? Did I say it wrong? Sometimes I don’t ask things the right way, I just wasn’t sure if… I thought maybe you were trying to tell me you liked me. It’s never happened before. Sorry if I was wrong,” he spoke quickly, acutely uncomfortable with Eren’s distress and tension and hoping whatever misunderstanding he’d instigated could be cleared up. Maybe Mikasa was a little bit right…

Eren instantly relaxed, a relieved smile lifting back on his face and all tension that had built up in the last minute bled out of him as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Oh thank fuck… The way you said it, it sounded like you were like a homophobe… Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all pissy. Being different sucks sometimes,” he said then laughed with relief. When he was finally calmed down, he gave Levi another shy smile, shuffling his feet before the shorter man. “I do like you, so yeah, you had it right… But I guess I’m pretty obvious. It’s okay if you don’t like me back. We can still be friends. I want to get to know you either way,” he said sincerely with a nod of his head, honest with his intentions. 

“Being different sucks,” Levi repeated with a breathy laugh. What a funny thing for Eren to say. He was smiling when he settled his gaze back on Eren’s mouth which seemed to be becoming his habit. He liked Eren’s lips and the way they moved around his words when he talked or stretched around his smile. The warm fuzzy feeling in his belly intensified as Eren kept talking and Levi raised a hand to rub at the fluttering unconsciously. “I never thought about it before. What would happen if I did like you?” he questioned curiously, just as honest with Eren. He was thinking about it now though… And he remembered how he’d wondered what Eren knew about kissing some days ago and then he was thinking about that too. People who liked each other kissed. Did Eren want to kiss him?

“Well,” Eren began, somehow shocked that Levi was even considering it, “Um… We’d go on dates… Hold hands… Maybe- um… kiss and stuff? The regular sort of things?” A hand raised to rub at the back of his neck nervously. Hadn’t Levi gone out with anyone before? “We don’t have to do anything. It’s whatever we want to do,” he added, not wanting to pressure Levi. He hadn’t even said if he was gay too or not. 

“Okay,” Levi agreed after a drawn moment of consideration. He liked Eren and it wasn’t disgusting when he thought about kissing with him. He didn’t think Eren would make those noises the teenagers made on Mondays at the planetarium, but it couldn’t hurt to find out.

Just then, he caught sight of Mikasa waving at him with her phone pressed to her ear at the end of the block and he put his hand up to acknowledge her before his attention was back on Eren briefly. “I have to go now. You can text me later. And don’t forget about lunch tomorrow; I’ll bring something for us,” he finished and in his usual fashion, turned to go without waiting for Eren’s response.

When Levi turned away, Eren was immediately jumping up and down, punching the air as he screamed out his elation excitedly. He hadn’t _meant_ to ask Levi out, but hell if he wasn’t gonna be happy about it. Somehow Eren felt like he had just conquered Mount Everest and he hadn’t even known he really _liked_ Levi until earlier that day. 

“What’s _that_ all about?” Mikasa asked her cousin as he approached her, gesturing at the brunette that was doing what could only be described as a giddy victory dance.

Levi didn’t even look back. “We’re dating now,” he deadpanned, a secretive smile hiding in the corner of his lips as she spluttered; maybe he didn’t need her help so much after all. He couldn’t wait to tell Erwin and he had questions. So many questions...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://s311.photobucket.com/user/XanderBradeshaw/media/SNK%20arts%20by%20me/spectrum4_zpsohegole7.jpeg.html)  
> 


	5. Tangerine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! Another chapter of this fic for all of you. Hopefully you all enjoy it as much as we did writing it. There will be more fic updates likely next weekend in case anyone is curious.
> 
> As usual, check out XanderB's art at the end of the chap!
> 
> Enjoy~

“You’re too impulsive! What were you thinking?” Mikasa burst as she closed the door more aggressively than was strictly necessary and stormed into the house after Levi, “You don’t know the first thing about dating!”

“So? I _want_ to know Mika!” Levi bit back.

“Why did you pick him? Do you even know what kind of expectations he’s going to have? You know that dating leads to… There’s no way you’re ready for that kind of thing Levi. You’re going to get hurt. If it were up to me--”

“Well it’s not up to you! It’s up to me Mikasa. If I want to date Eren and kiss him and… and do sex things with him, I will. I’m not a little kid!” he kicked off his shoes irately and stomped towards the kitchen.

“That’s… You don’t even know what _sex things_ you’re talking about! That’s my fucking point Levi. You haven’t thought this through at all. You had no interest in dating before,” the young woman protested exasperatedly as she followed him. He was being so stubborn and she just didn’t want to see him end up hurt because he was trying to prove a point.

“How would you know?” Levi replied petulantly, flopping into a kitchen chair, crossing his arms over his chest and bouncing his leg in time with the beat in his head, trying valiantly to keep control of himself.

“What’s this then? You brats fighting again?” Kenny interjected, coming up the steps from his shop in the basement, “Did something happen while you were out with your friend?”

“I’ll say _something_ happened. They’re dating now,” Mikasa answered, pursing her lips in a familiar scowl and crossing her own arms, waiting for her father to reiterate her arguments. Surely he could get Levi to be reasonable. 

Kenny’s brows shot up towards his hairline, “Oh hoh, is that so? Well, it’s about time if you ask me. I was beginning to worry you’d be a bachelor forever Levi. This is the one you’ve been telling us all about, Eren right?” he inquired with a proud half-smile, wholly supportive in Levi’s decision. It was progress. The boy needed someone in his life; it was good for him and if Eren was it, then he was happy for them. He could understand Mikasa’s concerns, but they couldn’t shelter Levi forever; _they_ couldn’t hold him back.

Mikasa huffed and shook her head, stomping off to her bedroom, leaving Kenny and Levi in the kitchen.

Levi took out his phone, composing a message to Eren to establish where they would meet on campus for lunch the following day, answering his uncle without hesitation or looking at him, “Yes, that’s him. He said that he likes me and since I like him too, we’re dating now, no thanks to Mika.”

Kenny hummed, watching his nephew and rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “And you know that you have to make an effort to communicate with Eren about the expectations you both have for this relationship? You know you can’t assume he knows or understands the things you do sometimes? You’ll have to teach him.”

“I know,” Levi said plainly, still not looking in Kenny’s direction and finishing up what he was writing.

“Alright then,” Kenny replied, following up with, “Invite him over sometime next week for dinner. If he’s brave enough to ask you on a date, I definitely need to meet this kid.”

Levi didn’t say anything else, but a smile crept across his lips and he gave a vague nod as he finished typing the last minute addition and finally hit send.

 _Levi:_  
Meet me at the north courtyard tomorrow after you are done your morning classes. It’s the quietest place and there are less flowers so I won’t sneeze. I hate sneezing. Is there anything you don’t like to eat?

Also, my uncle wants you to come for dinner next week. What day would be best for you?

 **Eren Jaeger- boyfriend:**  
I’ll see you there.  
And I’ll eat anything but mushrooms. 

Saturday is supposed to be nice, I could come over.

_Levi:_

Okay. I’ll remember. See you.

Levi replied before he tucked his phone away and got up from the kitchen table to get their lunch prepared for the following day before Kenny made dinner. He spent the rest of the night in his room playing with Lancelot and composing some pretty new melodies.

He was up too late and overslept in the morning, but it wasn’t so bad because he wasn’t going to be late for his lunch date with Eren. 

He had his headphones on, wearing similar styled clothing as he always did, stuffed messenger bag at his side and his fidget spinner between his fingers as he tapped his foot, waiting outside the north doors for Eren to arrive. He was a little early, so he would have to wait, but that was okay. It was better to be early than late anyway.

When Eren’s last class in the morning ended, he bolted out of the room as soon as the class was dismissed, backpack hanging precariously off his shoulder as he dodged people in front of him. He was determined to not be late this time around as he sprinted to the other side of campus. Eren was so excited for their lunch, he had been watching the clock the entire morning and continuously folding origami cranes to ease his nerves. His backpack was now filled with the folded paper and some flew out as he ran, since he hadn’t bothered to close the zipper properly. 

It wasn’t long before he spotted Levi, and slowed his pace, a skip in his step as he walked up. Waiting for Levi to take off his headphones, he smiled down at him, breathing heavy as his bronze skin glistened with sweat. 

Levi tucked the spinner away in a pocket and pulled off his headphones when he saw Eren come down the path. He turned them off and hung them around his neck, eyes flickering over Eren’s face, meeting his eyes briefly before settling on his smile. A soft smile formed on his own lips in response and he decided he must be getting used to the fuzzy sensations in his belly, because he was starting to kind of like how they felt. He was coming to associate it with Eren and since nothing about Eren was bad, he decided that feeling wasn’t either.

“You’re really sweaty. Did you run all the way here?” he said by way of greeting, cocking his head a bit curiously, admiring the way the sun lit up the perspiration on Eren’s skin with tiny prisms like the aurora borealis exhibit, “Pretty.”

“Yeah I did… I didn’t want to be late this time and my last class just ended on the other side of campus,” Eren breathed, lifting his green shirt to wipe his face off, flashing his tanned toned stomach. When he pulled it back down, he grinned at Levi slyly, “Not as pretty as you…” His seemingly cool demeanour was betrayed by the flush forming on his cheeks. 

Levi blinked at Eren perplexedly. There was that tone again; Eren was… flirting? He’d looked the same as always when he’d combed his hair that morning; maybe Eren thought that he was prettier because the zip up he’d donned was one he’d not worn before? “I wore my new sweater,” he replied, plucking at the material as he looked down at himself and back at Eren’s mouth. The other young man’s cheeks were red, but that could just as easily be from the exertion as it could be embarrassment, so Levi couldn’t be sure either way. Even so, that now familiar ripple in his belly was getting stronger again. He really didn’t mind so much when Eren said those sorts of confusing things, especially when he smiled like that and his eyes were such a nice green colour when he met them for some seconds.

“Looks great,” Eren said with a bright smile, but his eyes never left Levi’s, staring too long before he remembered that Levi had a thing about eye contact. Looking up then to the side, Eren flailed his arms and turned around. “Would you like to sit somewhere and eat?” he asked, not exactly sure where Levi wanted to hang out. They could sit in the grass in the quad or at a picnic table. There were a couple places they could go. 

“Yes, I like the spot under the willow tree over there,” Levi answered, latching onto the new topic and pointing in the direction of a large willow on the other side of the cobbled brick path that stretched between the grass and greenery of the quad. “I brought a blanket,” he continued, reaching to paw inside his messenger bag for the item in question as he started to walk in the direction he’d pointed, sure Eren would follow.

“Good, because I didn’t bring a jacket to lay out for you,” Eren joked, following after Levi like a baby duck following its mom; completely enamoured. There were people he knew waving at him and saying ‘hey,’ but he didn’t pay them any mind, too focused on his enigmatic boyfriend before him. When they were below the willow, Eren jumped into action, standing with his arms out to help spread the blanket. “It was super nice of you to make lunch for me,” he said, “It made me really happy.”

“I’ve never made lunch for anyone besides Mikasa and Uncle Kenny before, but it’s not really much different,” Levi answered, passing the blanket over to Eren, before turning back to digging into his bag for the containers of food and utensils, elaborating idly, “I made pasta salad. The pasta is the coloured kind of tortellini with cheese filling because it’s better cold and there’s also vegetables, red and yellow peppers, grape tomatoes, and red onions, and feta cheese, but not too much because it’s salty and mediterranean dressing. There’s no mushrooms, so you should like it.”

“That sounds delicious, thanks,” Eren beamed before shaking the blanket out and laying it under the willow. He flopped down in the middle, giving Levi a half smile as he patted the blanket next to him. Eren didn’t leave Levi much room, hoping that he’d maybe get a little closer. Now that they were dating, Eren was determined to bridge the gap between them that was continuously stumping him. Sometimes it didn’t seem like Levi wanted to be around him at all, that’s why he’d been so surprised when Levi had agreed to date him. Maybe Levi was just shy and inexperienced so Eren needed to be more forward with his advances; well at least he hoped that was the case. 

“You’re welcome,” Levi responded, offering a container and a packaged plastic fork to Eren, waiting for him to accept it before he slipped his messenger bag off his shoulder. He settled it onto the corner of the blanket before he seated himself cross-legged, adjacent to and half-facing his boyfriend, seemingly unaware of their proximity as he situated his own lunch in his lap, more concerned with eating since he was pretty hungry by now.

“Oh! I also brought juice boxes. They’re white grape,” he remembered abruptly, leaning over to dig them out as well and setting them both on the blanket. “I almost forgot since I was thinking so much about the food. Are you hungry? I’m hungry,” he continued, looking down as he popped the lid off his container of pasta salad. 

“I could eat,” Eren said, proceeding to snatch up the container of pasta salad Levi’d made for him, popping it open and beginning to shovel it in. It was a wonder he didn’t choke more often. With mouth full of food, he nodded at Levi, trying to convey how good it was before he focused back on the food. Eren had practise to go to after and he needed to be fueled for the gruelling pace the coach was going to set. 

Levi glanced up at Eren, looking away when he caught the other male's eye, but looking back at him again once Eren wasn't looking. He smiled to himself, again reminded of his pet as he watched his boyfriend stuff his cheeks repeatedly. He might have said something, but the grumble in his own belly called his attention away to his own food. He pried his fork out of its wrapping and began to eat with the same methodical motions as usual. It was quiet between them as they ate, but Levi didn't mind. The company was good even if they didn't talk.

When he’d had his fill, he closed up the container with the fork inside and set it aside before he picked up his juicebox and assembled it. He settled back on the hand closest to Eren as he brought the straw to his lips with the other, humming as he took his first sip.

Eren was totally focused on his food until his entire being shifted focus to the hand that was now right next to him. It was so close, Eren swore he could feel the warmth emanating from Levi’s skin. If he put down his food and reached down just a bit, they could be holding hands for real. Feel the softness of Levi’s skin. See the contrast between their skin tones; his tan and his boyfriend’s white almost faintly blue. Eren hadn’t realized that he had already put down his food and was reaching downwards until he was already three quarters of the way, pausing for one moment before biting the bullet and touching Levi’s hand softly, hoping that his boyfriend would welcome the touch.

Levi jerked away from the touch so swiftly, he nearly spilled his juice. “Don't,” he protested, setting his juicebox down as he flexed his other hand, trying to shake out the unpleasant sensation left by the too light touch. “What are you doing?”

Eren removed his hand immediately and placed it over his chest, leaning away from Levi’s ire as he blinked in shock and his heart jumped up in his throat. Well, that was probably the worst possible reaction. At least nothing worse could happen. He cringed, lifting his hand to rub the back of his neck as he tried to come up with an answer to Levi’s question. He began to gesticulate wildly, but the words refused to come out. _God_ , Levi must think he was a creep. “I- um-... I just-... I wanted to I um…” he managed to choke out before his hand went to mess up his hair anxiously, giving Levi a look of complete desperation before he whined and bowed his head in defeat. “I just wanted to hold your hand… I’m sorry…” he said quietly, face scrunching hard as he internally berated himself. Just when he thought things were going well. 

“Oh,” Levi said, realization slow in dawning on him and that strange flutter in his belly started up again. He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, considering Eren’s body language and his apology. He’d misunderstood; Levi could tell. “Here,” he said suddenly, reaching to grab Eren’s hand, pressing it into his own with firm pressure, “You don’t have to say sorry. I just don’t like to be touched like that. It’s too light and I don’t like it. But if you touch me like this, I don’t mind. See, it’s okay now.”

“O-Oh…” Eren said, eyes wide as he stared at their interlocked fingers. He tested the pressure of Levi’s hand against his own in silent awe, squeezing once then twice as a blush formed on his cheeks. He wondered how much Levi would make him blush; might as well be a tomato at this point. “I’ll remember that,” he added quietly, looking up at Levi through his lashes. 

Levi’s eyes flickered over Eren’s face, meeting the vivid green for a long second before dropping down to their hands. He squeezed back and wet his lips, a little frown forming between his brows. “Eren, you… You should have guessed by now that I’m not like usual people. I know I’ve said I’m different,” he began quietly like he’d practiced, staring at their embracing fingers, unable to look up at Eren’s face, not even at his mouth, because he wasn’t sure what to expect, though he was sure Eren wouldn’t mind; he hoped he hadn’t been wrong about that. “Everyone says I have to be more clear and I probably should have said before we started dating. I _am_ different. I have ASD, that is Autism Spectrum Disorder. Do you know about it?” he finished, saying familiar words, ones he’d been told many many times to describe what it was that made him the way he was. Most people thought they knew something about it when it came up, but they didn’t usually know much at all. Levi didn’t mind explaining, so long as people listened and didn’t (at the worst of times) argue with him; he didn’t think Eren would do that though. But he wanted to know how much Eren knew if anything at all.

Eren’s eyes opened impossibly wider. “No, I didn’t think of it… You are… You are you… And I wanted to get to know you,” he said quietly then added with a chuckle, “Even though you didn’t seem like you wanted anything to do with me…” A little wrinkle formed between his eyebrows as he stared at Levi’s face though his boyfriend refused to look back at him. “Being different isn’t so bad… Everyone’s different. To be honest I don’t know much about it other than a general idea… But I wanna get to know you… And it’s a part of you right? So you’ll teach me?” he asked, determined and hopeful. He didn’t like the way Levi was looking away from him. Levi was blunt and unafraid. Eren never wanted Levi to be hesitant to tell him things. 

“If you want to learn, I’ll teach you,” Levi replied immediately, already resolved to doing so as long as Eren hadn’t reacted badly to the information. He hadn’t and Levi was relieved, even though it was the outcome he’d predicted. “It’s not as bad as it used to be. I know better how to manage it now and I’m always working on my communication; Erwin says communication is key. Mostly, I might say or do some things that are hard to understand and you might misunderstand like you did before and _I_ might not understand sometimes and you’ll have to explain. I have a lot of routines, habits, and rules that I follow. And I might get upset or anxious if something really goes wrong, but that hasn’t happened in a while. It might… It will likely get hard sometimes, but I want to know you too Eren,” he explained, rambling in a semi-flat tone, but finally chancing a look at his boyfriend’s face, particularly his mouth and found a small smile on his own in response to the one that stretched across Eren’s lips, squeezing the hand in his again and rubbing his thumb curiously over the ridges of Eren’s knuckles. “I like when you smile like that.”

“I like yours too,” Eren blurted out immediately, “And you know, everyone needs to work on communication… No one knows this but I went through anger management when I was younger to deal with difficult emotions and stuff… I had a little trouble in school because I’m dyslexic and have ADHD… So I started playing sports to work off aggression and learned origami to focus,” he rambled, feeling that since Levi had opened up to him, he should open up as well. With his free hand, he grabbed his half open backpack and thrust it forward to show Levi the mountain of paper cranes he’d made. “I think… I think if we both want it to work, we will make it work. I know I’m going to do shit that pisses you off, but if you tell me when I do something wrong like with the hand holding thing then I’m sure we can figure it out… I hope,” he said before he tried to clamp down on his sudden verbal diarrhea. Eren had never told a single soul outside of his immediate family that he’d went through anger management. He’d been embarrassed for years over the amount of pent of rage he had and still did. 

Levi nodded vaguely, his gaze immediately fixated on all the folded papers in Eren’s bookbag. There were so many and he remembered how quickly Eren had folded the one he’d made in Dr. Hange’s class. He reached to finger a couple of them as he held fast to Eren’s hand with his other. “I like these,” he said, completely changing the subject, unconcerned by Eren’s admission and pleased that they seemed to understand each other, “Did you make all of these this morning? Dr. Hange said I should ask you how you make them because I kept the one you made during the first class. Can I have these ones too?”

Eren threw his head back and laughed. Of course Levi liked them when to Eren, they were just something he did with his hands to keep them busy so he could focus on the lecture. “You can have them all, I just throw them out anyway. I can fold pretty much anything you like into origami, even one that looks like Lancelot… I could teach you if you like as well.” 

Levi glanced at Eren, looking skeptical, but smiling, “I’d like that, but how will you make one of Lancelot when you haven’t seen him yet? And don’t throw any more away. I want them.”

“A white ferret… I can make that,” Eren said, his free hand diving into his backpack to retrieve his notebook and ripped a blank piece of paper out. He glanced at their hands and frowned, not particularly wanting to let go but needing two hands to fold the paper. “I need my other hand though… Can we hold hands again after I’m done folding?” Eren asked, hoping Levi would be alright with that. He didn’t really know how to navigate this now that he knew the truth about Levi, not that it bothered him; everyone was different just like Eren said before. 

“Okay,” Levi agreed, releasing Eren's hand to reach for his own bag to pack away the containers, slipping his headphones in as well before he began to transfer all the cranes from Eren's backpack to his own. “Mm Lancelot isn't just white though, but you can colour his mask and mits after; I want to see if you can really make a ferret out of paper,” he continued as he carefully tucked the many origami cranes away in the sectioned pocket of his messenger bag where he usually kept his laptop but was empty since he didn't have classes on Mondays and he'd needed the extra space for the juice boxes.

“You got it,” Eren said, curling his tongue at the corner of his mouth as he ripped the paper again to make it perfectly square. “I guess I need to invest in some actual origami paper instead of just ripping up paper from my notebook if I’m actually giving it to someone,” Eren mumbled as he began sectioning then folding the paper on the blanketed ground in front of him. Soon enough he got to the finer folds then held it up, a perfect origami ferret for Levi to see. “See… it’s not perfect but it’s okay… it’d be a lot better with the right paper, I’ll go buy some after practise,” he excused, hoping Levi would like it. 

Levi's eyes lit up with fascination as he looked at the finished product, taking it from Eren to examine it more closely. “Not bad. You need special paper? What makes it so special?” he asked, still turning the paper ferret over in his hands and trying to attach each resulting fold to the motions Eren had made while crafting it. He’d thought he understood, but he still couldn't figure out how the creases in the single square of paper had turned out to be a rough ferret instead of a crane or anything recognizable at all for that matter, “It's like magic.”

Holding up the left over scraps, Eren leaned towards Levi bumping their shoulders together. “Look at this paper from my notebook… Not only does it have lines but it’s also pretty thick and doesn’t come in an even square, I have to rip it up. Origami paper is thin and perfectly square. It’s easy to fold and comes in a million different colours. And it’s insanely expensive. I only buy it if I really want to make something pretty…” Eren said, then turned his head to look at Levi. They were so close their noses were almost touching completely distracting Eren from what he was saying. “How do you feel about kissing? Is it the same with the hands… Do I gotta do it a specific way?” he blurted, green eyes darting back and forth from one grey to the other since he was too close to actually look at both at the same time even though Levi wasn't looking back. He didn’t lean though, didn’t make any indication he was about to kiss Levi. This was more for future reference though he _was_ tempted; Levi’s lips just looked so soft. 

“Mmn I don't know about kissing. Probably though. I've been wondering about it lately. The teenagers at the planetarium on Mondays always make a lot of wet sounds and breathe heavy when they do it, but in movies and books, it's not always like that. If it was too soft, I probably wouldn't like it. Do you know a lot about kissing? Are there different kinds? Do you want to kiss me?” Levi answered, still distracted by the origami and the state of Eren's notebook, but interested in what his boyfriend might have to say on the matter of kissing. If they were going to be doing it, Levi should probably prepare himself and even if they weren't going to yet, it was better to be ready in case, wasn't it?

Eren backed up, getting a hold of his impulse to just go for it, but still wanting to answer Levi’s questions. “I guess so? I don’t know,” he said, running a hand through his hair as he messed it up even further, “I think it’s different depending on who you kiss… So how I would kiss you is different than how I would kiss someone else… And we both need to learn how to kiss each other and discover what we both like then we practise to get better… I guess it’s more of a combined skill…” Looking down, he smiled as he started to fold the remaining paper, “Of course I want to kiss you… But only when you’re ready. We’ve only been dating for less than a day… So there’s lots of time, no need to rush…” He reached to the side to grip Levi’s hand, making sure to maintain pressure so that the touch wasn’t too light then placed the origami heart he’d just finished in the palm of Levi’s hand. 

Levi looked down as well, smiling at the gifted heart shaped paper and curling his fingers in around it. “That will be good. Have you kissed people before?” he questioned, though his expression was unchanged. He was not entirely sure if he liked the idea of Eren kissing other people or not. He supposed so long as Eren wasn't kissing anyone else anymore, that would be fine because as far as he knew people who dated weren't supposed to go around kissing any other people. And he still wanted to know how much experience Eren had in comparison to himself.

“Well yeah,” Eren said, perplexed, “Haven’t you?” But then he slammed his mouth shut taking a moment to think about everything that Levi had told him and realizing that maybe Levi was a lot more inexperienced then he’d assumed. “If you haven’t, it’s not a big deal,” he quickly back tracked, waving a hand in front of him to try and convey how much of a non issue it was. 

“I haven't. How many people have you kissed?” Levi answered, unfazed by the expected answer. Even if he didn't like thinking about Eren kissing other people, he knew it was unrealistic to assume Eren wouldn't have; they were at an age where most people had kissed or been kissed plenty. Even Mikasa had done it; he knew that too. Maybe he should ask her opinion; maybe when he wasn't mad at her anymore. Like how he would know he was ready. Eren had said they would kiss then, but he hadn't said how Levi might know when that was. His brow furrowed a little, though his lips still upturned in a vague smile, eyes still on their hands; he still liked how they looked together. What if he didn't realize it when it was time to kiss and missed it? He would definitely have to ask Mikasa and Erwin too and maybe even uncle Kenny though he couldn't even imagine his uncle kissing anyone, at least not the kind of kisses couples shared. Gross…

“Oh… um,” Eren said, face scrunching as he tried to think back. He looked up to the sky as he counted the numbers with the fingers on one hand trying to remember each face when some of them had turned blurry. “Five for sure… but less than seven at the most… A couple of times, the person kissed me or I was drunk and don’t quite remember,” he answered honestly, “Three more than once.” 

Levi nodded, taking Eren's word without argument and filing what seemed important away for reference later. He'd never been drunk, but Eren wasn't the first person to have kissed or been kissed while in such a state; in fact, it was pretty common in movies and books too. And he also knew sometimes people were kissed when they didn't agree or want to be. He made a thoughtful sound. “Since you're homosexual, have you only kissed other males?”

Eren shook his head and bit his lip. “Some girls have taken it upon themselves to try and ‘turn me straight,’ but obviously it didn’t work… People can be assholes about it,” he said, feeling grossed out by the memories, “I’ll never do that to you though… kiss you when you don’t wanna be kissed. I know how much it sucks.” He gave Levi’s hand a squeeze to put emphasis behind his words hoping that Levi knew he was sincere.

“Obviously. That's stupid. No one else can change your preferences; that's why they’re yours,” Levi said facetiously, finding the idea of it to be so ridiculous that he laughed. There were some things that were just a part of a person; no one could change them; it was silly to even try. He didn’t address Eren’s ending words only because it had never crossed his mind that Eren would kiss him without his permission or that he wouldn’t want him to when he did. 

“Yeah it is really silly when you think about it,” Eren said as a smile lifted on his face. Only Levi could make him laugh about these memories it seemed. It only made him want to kiss his boyfriend more. He could feel himself falling deeper and deeper into the depths of Levi’s eyes, leaning closer and closer when his phone went off in his pocket making him flinch hard. “That’s my alarm,” he said, pulling it out and turning it off, “I gotta head to practise.” He could feel his bottom lip jutting out in a horribly childish pout; Eren didn’t want to leave Levi just yet. “Hey um, you free anytime this week? Want to hang out again?” he asked hopefully. He didn’t want to wait for the dinner with Levi’s family to hang out with Levi again. 

Levi startled when Eren's alarm went off and he immediately broke the unexpectedly prolonged eye contact, shifting awkwardly. “Um okay... yes, I only have anthropology tomorrow morning, then Doctor Hange’s class and advanced music theory Wednesday, I take Lancelot to the pet store on Thursdays and I have an appointment at two o’clock on Friday with Erwin,” he listed, pulling his hand away from Eren's to put the heart origami with the others in his book bag and collected his juicebox in preparation to get up from the blanket.

“Do you like going to the movies?” Eren asked hopefully as he zipped up his bag and stood up to hang it off one shoulder haphazardly, “We could meet up after you see Erwin. I don’t have practise Friday afternoon because we have the game on the weekend.” 

“I like them, but we have to go to the theater that has sensory sensitive sound and lighting if you want to take me to one,” Levi got to his feet as well and slipped the strap of his bag over his head to rest properly and securely on his shoulder and across his chest before he bent to pick up the blanket. He shook it out to be sure there wasn't too much grass on it in order to fold it as he followed up with another question, “What kind of movie do you want to see?”

“Well…” Eren considered, cocking his head to the right as he watched Levi get ready to leave, “Would watching a movie at my place be better? I have a lot of dvds to choose from or you could bring one… I live alone off campus so we don’t have to worry about roommates…” 

“It doesn't matter, but they might not be showing a movie you would want to see in the theater. I wouldn't mind coming to see your house, can I bring Lancelot? Thursday would be better, then you could come to the pet store with us before we go to your house,” Levi answered, tucking the thin blanket back away in his bag and beginning to fidget before Eren. He didn't really want to go yet, but Eren had said he had to go.

“Sure Thursday works and I’d love to meet him,” Eren beamed, feeling his phone start to buzz again. It was probably one of his teammates wondering where the hell he was. He ran a hand through his hair then bit his lip hard. “Can I give you a hug goodbye? Or is that too much?” he asked nervously, trying to be considerate. 

“Why?” Levi blurted before he made a face, puffing out his cheeks for a moment and amended with a little colour in his ears (he hadn't really meant to say that), “I mean yes, it's okay. If you want to.” He liked hugs, usually, as long as they weren't coming from strangers. 

Eren nodded his head, took a deep breath then stepped forward with his arms open to pull Levi into a tight embrace. Levi seemed to fit perfectly in his arms, his head tucked under Eren’s chin as his face rest against Eren’s chest, probably able to hear the pounding of Eren’s heart, but Eren for once wasn’t embarrassed. He was too busy absorbing Levi’s warmth and breathing in the fresh scent of what must of have been shampoo. Levi’s undercut was just as soft as Eren imagined, and it was all too soon that he should let go before things got awkward. “I don’t wanna go… I’m gonna miss you… Remember to text me this week, about anything whenever,” Eren said into Levi’s hair, hoping that he wasn’t causing Levi any discomfort. 

“I’ll remember… Squeeze harder,” Levi said in response, raising his arms to return the hug and squeezing Eren around the middle. He liked hugs when they were tight, when it was hard enough to make him feel like he was running out of breath, but he could still breathe just fine; there was a sense of security for him in a hard hug, like the ones Kenny and Mikasa gave, like the ones his mother had given him when he was little. And he could hear Eren’s heart thudding beneath the press of his cheek to his boyfriend’s chest. It was really loud and really fast and for some reason, it made Levi’s speed up a little too. “Your heart’s beating really loud and quick… Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m feeling perfect,” Eren sighed, nuzzling his head into the top of Levi’s and squeezed harder, firm, tanned biceps flexing as he squished Levi even tighter to his chest. Damn, it felt good to have him in his arms. 

“That’s better. You’re good at hugging,” Levi replied, a breathless quality to his voice as Eren tightened his hold. It was maybe tighter than Mikasa’s and uncle Kenny’s hugs. He made a throaty contented sound and squeezed Eren back just as tightly. Decidedly, he liked Eren’s hugs better. He took a deep breath, finding the odd sensation of constriction enjoyable and committing Eren’s scent to memory. It was the closest contact they’d had so far and Levi wasn’t going to waste the opportunity to know what his boyfriend smelled like. And holding his breath for a moment before exhaling it in a heavy woosh, he decided he liked Eren’s smell too.

He lost count of the seconds and minutes they were hugging and since Eren’s alarm had sounded, but he knew it was more than a few, “You’re going to be late if you don’t let go of me.”

Eren made a humming growl sound deep within his chest and squeezed even harder for just a moment, protesting Levi’s words. But with another heavy sigh, he let go of Levi slowly, letting his arms unwind from around the smaller man so that his hands could settle on Levi’s shoulders. “I’ll have to do extra sprints for being late but I regret nothing,” Eren said with a crooked smile, looking down on Levi with brimming happiness for a moment longer before he stepped away. 

“If you say so,” Levi answered, cheeks feeling warmer and looking away from Eren’s eyes when he broke the hug, his own hands lifting to press over Eren’s and increase the pressure on his shoulders, but he let him go when Eren stepped away again. 

“Text me,” Eren reminded, walking backwards like he didn’t want to turn his back on Levi before he turned on his heel and began sprinting away. Just as he was about to round a corner out of sight, he looked over his shoulder with a smile and a wave at Levi then disappeared around the edge of the building. 

“I said I would and I won’t forget,” Levi replied with a nod, watching Eren’s feet as he walked backwards until he turned away, then he watched his back until Eren waved at him and he waved back until Eren was gone from view entirely.

He adjusted the strap over his shoulder and chest again, checked the time, and retrieved his headphones before he left the courtyard as well to make his way to the bus stop, deciding he should make a trip to his favourite music store since he was already out and free for the afternoon. And he was feeling too restless to go home again just yet. It had been a nice date; he’d liked it. And Eren might have only just left, but Levi found he already wanted to see him again. He sent Eren several messages about the interesting people on the city bus since Eren had made it clear Levi should text him; he hadn’t said what about. And even if he didn’t respond right away, Levi didn’t mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://s311.photobucket.com/user/XanderBradeshaw/media/SNK%20arts%20by%20me/spectrum5-2_zpsjeieta2n.jpeg.html)  
> 
> 
> [](http://s311.photobucket.com/user/XanderBradeshaw/media/SNK%20arts%20by%20me/spectrum5-1_zpsfidhxu8q.jpeg.html)


	6. Peach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello! Glad you've all been enjoying this fic so much! It's so cute, it hurts lol. Anyways, onward to their second date!
> 
> Art courtesy of XanderB at the end of the chapter as usual.
> 
> Enjoy~

Levi stood outside Eren’s building, pressing the buzzer that correlated with Eren’s sloppy signature with one finger. He had on his usual messenger bag strapped across his chest and in his other hand was Lancelot’s leash. The ferret was happy enough in his little vest and badge that provided his status as a registered service animal, sat back on his haunches next to Levi’s feet, looking about curiously, but not venturing from Levi as he’d been trained. Levi tapped his foot, excited and vaguely anxious energy keeping him from hiding his impatience as he pressed the buzzer a third time. 

He and Eren had made plans to meet at the bus stop on campus, but Eren had overslept and was just getting out of the shower when Levi had finally gotten impatient enough to call him; he was twenty-eight minutes late and Levi wanted to know what was taking him so damn long. So it was decided Levi would meet Eren at his apartment before they carried on to the pet store since it was not so far from campus itself. Eren had given Levi his address and apartment number and Levi had started walking. Now he and Lancelot had arrived and he was curious enough about Eren’s apartment to forget about his prior annoyance.

The buzzer rang, letting Levi inside to a lobby and a set of shiny metallic elevators. Eren’s apartment was on the ninth floor at the end of the hall. Before Levi had even knocked, Eren ripped the door open, wearing only jeans with the button and fly loose to reveal white briefs, and his hair dripping wet. “Sorry, sorry, I’m sorry,” he said, waving Levi inside, “I’ll be ready soon, just gotta get dressed....” He left Levi on his own to walk into the master bedroom where he could be seen digging through a set of drawers. 

Levi looked a little shaken as he stepped inside Eren’s apartment, looking him over with narrowed eyes. “You should have said you had an elevator. I don’t like elevators when I’m by myself, but there were too many stairs for Lancelot,” he called in greeting, though he didn’t sound angry, just making a statement. He looked around Eren’s apartment as he bent down to unlatch Lancelot’s leash to let him acquaint himself with the other young man’s home.

Eren’s condo was bright with large windows and high ceilings with an open concept except for the bedrooms and the bathroom. His parents had owned this place for a while and let Eren live there rent free as long as his GPA stayed high and they were allowed to come stay to visit their alma mater. The walls had many framed posters of famous lacrosse players, along with a set of antique sticks and gloves that were set above the large sectional in front of an even larger tv. Though it was clean, it was obviously a man cave that didn’t see a lot of visitors. 

“I like your apartment. The windows are nice. I bet you can see all the stars at night,” he called as he stepped over to peer out said windows with interest, a smile starting to creep over his lips. He loved the view and wondered if Eren might let him bring his telescope over sometime; they could look at the stars together for real. He saw Eren come out of his room in the reflection from the glass, shirt in hand and turned towards him, eyes on his mouth for a long moment before they traveled curiously lower, interested in the skin that had been unrevealed and unnoticed previously. Collarbones, sternum, pectorals, abdominals, navel, groin… and settled back on the caramel of Eren’s skin over the dips and curves of his abdomen. It looked hard, but smooth and Levi had an abrupt urge to touch it and find out. So he did, taking a step towards his approaching boyfriend and pressing his hand firmly against Eren’s belly, spreading his fingers over the divots of muscle there. Interesting. It was hard, but also soft; he flexed his fingers a bit and decided he liked the feel of it.

Eren was just about to pull his shirt over his head when suddenly there was a pressure on his abdomen just above the band of his underwear and he immediately felt like he was being strangled as his blood rushed from his head to his dick. A choked whine echoed from his chest and he dropped his shirt with a flail in surprise, somehow managing to pull Levi into a crushing hug. How the hell did he get himself into this? His mind was going a mile a minute as his chest heaved up and down not quite knowing what to do. “I-um-I-sorry,” he said in a rush, but didn’t let go, smashing Levi into his bare chest.

It took Levi a long moment to respond to the unexpected hug, awkwardly returning the gesture with his free hand since his other was now wedged and trapped between the press of their bodies, but it wasn't uncomfortable so he didn't mind. And he was a little confused as to why Eren was apologizing. Levi had said it was okay to hug him and Eren had remembered to do it tight. “What for?” he questioned as he looked at Eren’s collarbones, close enough for his eyelashes to just barely brush against the protrusion and he couldn’t help but take in a deep breath of Eren’s clean and vaguely spicy scent.

“You startled me… I didn’t mean to bear hug you,” Eren mumbled, but continued to hold on, squeezing tighter for a moment before he pulled back. His face was an impressive shade of red, quickly bending down to snatch up his maroon shirt and pull it over his head. “I shouldn’t have let you in while half naked… but I didn’t want to make you wait any longer than you already had… I forgot to set my alarm so I’m sorry for that too…” Eren rambled, bringing up a hand to run through his hair, making it even messier. 

“It’s fine now. I was annoyed before, but your apartment is nice so it was worth it. I don’t mind so much anymore. You didn’t say, but, you can see the stars well up here, can’t you?” Levi replied, already distracted by the large windows as Eren fidgeted. Lancelot came ambling out from beneath Eren’s couch and didn’t bother avoiding Eren’s feet, clambering right over them, on his way over to Levi.

“Yeah on a clear night. We are still in the city so there is light pollution but there’s a good view of the sky,” Eren said before he gasped, crouching down to get a better look at the ferret that ran across his feet. “You brought Lancelot! He’s adorable!” Eren said, beaming down at the small animal looking at him curiously. He held out his hand for Lancelot to sniff, tiny white whiskers twitching as he inspected Eren. 

Levi looked down at his pet and shook his head as Lancelot began to wiggle and sway some, candidly soaking up the attention. “I said I would. I always bring him to the pet store when I go. He's picky about toys,” Levi replied, shaking his head, “He’s showing off because he's dressed up today since we aren't just at home. He's _technically_ working right now. He just likes his job.”

He watched another minute as Lancelot danced before he snapped his fingers and the ferret perked up, stilling and looking at Levi. Levi smiled, pointed his forefinger at the masked rodent and said, “Bang!” And Lancelot dropped onto his back and played dead and Levi laughed.

“Wow!” Eren said, clapping his hands together lightly in a small clap, “Can I pet him? I know I’m not supposed to distract a service animal while they are working though… I can pet him later if that’s a problem.”

“Yeah, you can pet him. If I get anxious and need him, he’ll react, so don’t worry. If you rub his belly, you’ll resurrect him,” Levi assured idly, watching Eren’s interaction with his cherished pet and friend. “He likes you. I can tell,” he smiled, already rather comfortable in Eren’s space even though he’d never been there before since Eren was there with him and for some reason, being with Eren was swiftly becoming as comfortable as home was for him. Weird and unexpected, but not bad. 

Eren reached down and pet Lancelot's belly, beaming down at the wiggly creature. Lancelot rolled around, ran in a circle then leant on Eren’s arm to stretch up and smell Eren’s mouth like he was giving him a kiss. Eren stayed still until Lancelot moved away then tilted his head to beam up at Levi, “Is that a good sign?” 

Levi laughed again, resting a hand on his fluttering belly unconsciously as he nodded. “I told you, he likes you. Did you just brush your teeth? He likes peppermint so he always wants kisses after people brush their teeth or chew gum,” he explained, crouching down next to his boyfriend and watching Lancelot chase after Eren’s fingers playfully.

“Yeah I did in the shower,” Eren said with a smile, wiggling his fingers for Lancelot to play with but keeping his eyes on Levi. He remembered not to stare so keenly at Levi’s eyes and stared at his mouth instead. Levi’s lips looked so soft. “Do you wear lipchap?” he blurted out before he could stop himself. 

“When my lips get dry. Why, do you need some?” Levi answered, glancing over at Eren, meeting his eyes a second before they shifted away again. The way Eren was looking at him was… weird and it made his cheeks feel a little hot for some reason and that warm fluttery feeling in his gut got strong again. Weird, but still not bad, he decided. He kind of liked when Eren looked at him like that actually. He stared at Eren’s unoccupied hand for a long minute before he suddenly reached out to grasp it with one of his own.

Eren looked down at their clasped hands then gave Levi’s a squeeze. He looked up at Levi with a radiant smile and said, “Nah, they look soft. Perfect for kissing…” He didn’t give Levi a chance to respond though, standing up and dragging his boyfriend up with him. “We better head out,” Eren said, but still held on to Levi’s hand as he walked to the counter to grab his phone, keys and wallet, “Gotta pick out the perfect toy for Lancelot! I’m pumped!” 

Levi nodded, an unconscious half-smile on his lips, unoccupied hand rubbing at his belly as it did an odd somersault. He couldn’t quite figure out why, but he was kind of proud that Eren thought his lips looked good for kissing. He’d been wondering about that sort of thing since their last date and he’d thought he wouldn’t mind kissing Eren’s since he’d always thought Eren’s lips and mouth were nice. It was good to know he wasn’t the only one that had been thinking about those kinds of things.

Lancelot bounded after them as Levi let his boyfriend lead the way back out of his apartment, and Levi reattached his leash while Eren locked up. And it wasn’t even awkward to hold hands again while they walked, which Levi had been a little worried about, especially with Lancelot’s lead in his other hand. But it was fine. He squeezed Eren’s hand in his as the elevator descended and finally responded to the change in topic, “We have to take the bus to get to the pet store he likes best. I like it best too because it has the widest selection of toys and treats for small animals.” 

“Sounds good. I have a car but I almost never drive it… seems easier to just take public transport,” Eren said with a nod, “Is the elevator okay now with me here? Next time you visit I’ll come downstairs to meet you.” He definitely didn’t want Levi to be deterred from visiting him just because he had to take the elevator. 

“Yes, it’s fine now, and I’d appreciate that next time” Levi replied plainly, much more relaxed with the other male’s company than he’d been on his way up alone. “Next time, I’ll bring my telescope so we can get a good look at the stars from your windows, actually I could come over after your game next Saturday,” he continued thoughtfully, deciding he would definitely like to visit Eren’s apartment again in the near future; like Eren himself, his apartment was surprisingly comfortable and Levi didn’t feel anxious despite the elevator. It was nice too because he didn’t have to worry about Mika hovering around. Even if Lancelot was with them; at least he wouldn’t get upset if Levi sat closer to Eren.

“Sounds good to me,” Eren said, almost bubbling in excitement. Saturday the following week was going to be a good day, he just knew it. “Usually there is a party after the game, but I’d rather spend time alone with you instead,” he added with a half grin, letting go of Levi’s hand to put his arm over his boyfriend’s shoulders and pull him closer, making sure to put the entire weight of his arm onto Levi so the touch was in no way light. Turning to rest his chin on the top of Levi’s head, he chuckled, “You’re so tiny… I really dwarf you.” Levi would come to find that Eren was quite clingy, so he would try his hardest to make sure Levi was comfortable with his touches. 

Levi puffed his cheeks out and leaned heavily against Eren, not particularly offended, but playing along with the teasing. “I'm not _that_ small, you're just big,” he answered, a decidedly amused half smirk giving him away. He didn't mind so much that Eren was big and kind of heavy and hard; actually he kind of liked it, especially since his boyfriend wasn't hesitating anymore when he touched him which in turn meant that Eren's touches were much firmer and assured. Much more comfortable. 

He stopped walking once they’d reached the bus stop, Lancelot following suit and sitting between Levi's feet idly, seemingly unconcerned with Eren's contact with his charge. Levi didn't make any move to remove himself from his boyfriend, happy enough to wait for the bus just as they were.

Only when the bus came and they hopped on did Eren let go, but only to grip Levi’s hand instead. It was a quiet ride as they just sat in comfortable silence. Normally Eren always needed to fill the air with noise to be at ease, but with Levi, it felt like he didn’t need to talk; just sitting beside Levi was calming to Eren. It wasn’t a long ride before Levi told him they were there, taking a short walk down the street to see a plaza with a modest pet shop. “Oh wow, looks nice,” Eren commented before they walked in, “And you said it’s the best?” 

“Mhm yeah, at least when it comes to the small animals and birds,” Levi said, glancing at Eren and readjusting his grip on Eren's hand as Lancelot perked up, recognizing where they were going and leading the way, “See? He even knows.”

“You’re a smart cookie, hey Lancelot,” Eren cooed, then let go of Levi’s hand to firmly place on the small of his boyfriend's back and led him through the door. The pet shop was a medium sized clean place with rows of product in the middle and cages lining the walls filled with all sorts of small animals; bunnies, hamsters, ferrets, mice, lizards, love birds, parakeets, cockatiels, and much more. Eren looked around curiously then asked, “Where to first?” before he noticed Lancelot for the first time actually pulling on his leash trying to lead Levi who instantly followed. “Okay, follow the ferret,” Eren said with a chuckle, pausing only to grab a basket then stayed close to Levi as Lancelot darted down the first aisle. 

Levi grinned, glancing back at Eren and then forward again as Lancelot began sniffing and nosing through the toys lining the lower shelves, picking one or two up for closer inspection before dropping them back to the shelf until he found one he liked and dropped it at Eren’s feet instead. “That one’s for you I guess,” Levi commented, gesturing at the feathered ball that jingled whenever it was jostled, “You can keep some at your apartment if you want for when he comes with me to visit.”

Eren’s eyes shined as he bent down to pick up the ball and put it into the basket. “Oh my god, I never thought of buying stuff for my place…” Eren said with excitement as he looked up at Levi with determination before he stood up once again. “I need to buy _all_ the things… What would he need for you guys to stay the night?” Eren asked, bouncing beside Levi, looking like a kid in the candy store, “Lancelot needs to be comfortable too for when you stay over to look at the stars!” 

Levi blinked; he hadn’t thought about that, about staying the night at Eren’s house. He’d not done that before. He’d been invited to spend the night once at a classmate’s house during elementary school and it hadn’t ended well, so he’d never tried again. It was just easier to be home where his things were and he was most comfortable. But Eren’s place was comfortable too and they could look at the stars as much as they wanted if he stayed over. 

“Hmm,” he hummed thoughtfully, skimming over the items hanging out of Lancelot’s reach and the bags of food, treats and furniture that lined the shelves not holding toys. He plucked a package of his preferred treats and food from the shelf, and pointed to the array of hammocks and huts on display before Eren, “He likes to sleep in a hammock when he’s at home, so he’ll need one of those and we’ll have to get him some litter since he can’t exactly use the toilet.”

Eren immediately noticed the change in Levi at the mention of him staying over. It was subtle almost undetectable, but Eren had now spent a lot of time watching Levi and seeing the different sides of him. The look on Levi’s face was the same as when he talked about the elevator. “You know… How about I buy this stuff now, and we work up to you staying the night. You can come to my place whenever you wanna watch the stars and when you are comfortable, you can stay the night. I can wait,” Eren said with a reassuring smile then swooped down and pressed a firm kiss to Levi’s cheek. Before Levi could react, Eren turned away to reach up and grab the hammock Levi had pointed at, hiding his burning face, “It was this one Lancelot likes, right?” 

“Hm? Yeah, I mean yes, that will be good,” Levi replied, hand raised to touch the warm tingling left in his cheek from the unexpected pressure of Eren's lips. He wasn't even sure which inquiry he was answering exactly, but it was an affirmative answer to all of what Eren had said anyhow. Lancelot was bobbing up and down, clearly interested in what the taller male was picking out while Levi was trying to work out what exactly he'd done to make Eren kiss him; it hadn't been an unpleasant sensation.

Eren whirled around again, looking mortified as he put the hammock in the basket then set it on the ground. “I’m sorry,” he blurted, “I-I should have asked your permission first… I just wanted to so I did it without thinking! Did I cross a line? I’m so sorry Levi, please forgive me!” 

“Why? I'm not mad,” Levi answered simply, vague confusion in his tone, “I don't mind. I didn't expect it, but you did say you wanted to kiss me before. You know… you don't have to worry all the time. I'll tell you if it's not okay.” 

He looked at Eren for a long moment, eyes, cheeks, lips and back to his red cheeks before he rather abruptly rose on the tips of his toes to give the cheek kissing a try himself. Shifting back a moment later as Lancelot nipped playfully at their pant legs, an almost shy smile on his lips, and not quite looking at his boyfriend, he asked “Did I do it okay?”

Eren was dumbstruck, turning an even more impressive shade of red as he stood there with his jaw hanging open. Finally, he closed his mouth, ran his fingers through his hair, then bent down to offer his cheek to Levi. “I-I’m not sure, can you do it again?” 

Levi didn't even hesitate before he repeated the action, lingering perhaps a minute longer than necessary, but the smooth heat of Eren's cheek provided such an interesting sensation on his lips. Maybe this kissing stuff wasn't so difficult to figure out after all and he had just been overthinking it the way he often did. And he smiled again unconsciously when he pulled away once more, “How about now?”

A dopey grin spread on Eren’s face then he pressed a kiss to Levi’s cheek in return. “Amazing, perfect, wonderful… You’re a natural,” Eren said, before kissing Levi’s cheek three more times, lingering on the last one. “I think we should still practise though, just to be safe,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at Levi before he finally went back to his task and looked down at Lancelot. “Where to next little buddy?” he asked, grabbing the basket once more, watching as Lancelot danced around their feet trying to get their attention. 

“Agreed,” Levi’s grin turned a little cheeky and he bumped his shoulder against Eren’s then leaned against him, seeking out more of the comfortable contact he’d been progressively familiarizing himself with. It only lasted a few seconds before he moved away again, tucking the items he’d picked up into the basket. Lancelot’s lead in his other hand, he offered his newly freed hand to his boyfriend, answering in Lancelot’s stead as he followed the ferret’s lead, “He likes to go visit the other ferrets before we go home. Ferrets are very social, you know.” 

“Is that right,” Eren said as he gripped Levi’s hand and walked much closer than was necessary. “Maybe we-… you should get him a friend at some point…” Eren suggested, correcting himself halfway through. He had been wondering if they would date long enough to get a pet together and then the words just kind of slipped out. Eren knew he was getting way too far ahead of himself, but they were obviously in the honeymoon stage and he couldn’t help but enjoy it. 

“You could get one, then Lancelot would have a friend to play with at your apartment when we visit and you won’t be lonely. And you’ll already have some things since we’re buying them today. But you shouldn’t get one until you know more about them. I can bring over some books on ferret care if you want and I can help you with training once you bring one home. I taught Lancelot all the tricks he knows,” Levi grasped onto the idea, getting a bit excited about it as they approached the glass encased habitat that held the handful of ferrets the pet store had for sale. Lancelot immediately stood up before it, little claws clicking as he pawed at the glass and the others came to greet him exuberantly on the other side. He gave Eren’s hand in his a tight squeeze, glancing at him with bright eyes, “They make very good pets. We could always come here together on Thursdays and they could pick out toys to play with together.”

Eren’s eyes blew wide, surprised by how quickly Levi got attached to the idea. His excitement was infectious, but Eren tried to be a responsible person and he didn’t want to be a horrible pet owner. “I’ll have to do some research… On the internet and I could borrow some of your books…” he said, smiling down at Levi, but then a wrinkle formed between his eyebrows. “You said they are social correct? I live alone and I’m gone a lot with school and practise… I wouldn’t want to leave them alone… So it’s going to take some more thought about logistics… But it would be nice, I've been pretty lonely myself…” Eren admitted, lifting a hand to pull at a errant curl that fell on his forehead before he turned back to watch Lancelot greet the other ferrets. “I’ll think about it though…” he said, smiling at Levi’s reflection in the glass as he gave his hand a squeeze. 

Nodding, Levi answered, though he wasn’t looking at Eren anymore, distracted by the antics of the ferrets, “Yeah, they get lonely if you don’t spend any time with them, but as long as you spent a bit with them everyday, they would be okay. And you wouldn’t be lonely either, especially when me and Lancelot visit. And if you are going to be really busy, I could watch them for you since Lancelot would like the company and I don’t have as many classes as you.” He paused a moment, realizing belatedly that he should probably not get too far ahead of himself, “You have lots of time to decide though. They always have lots of ferrets here. The shop owner breeds them.” He leaned against Eren again idly, subtly vibrating with excess energy, unaware of Eren’s eyes on his reflection as he watched Lancelot performing a wiggling dance for his equally eager audience.

“Mmm,” Eren said, wrapping his arm firmly around Levi’s shoulders then resting his head on top of Levi’s. “You smell good,” Eren sighed, nuzzling into Levi’s hair before a sudden thought overtook him. “What are you majoring in? I don’t think I’ve ever asked…” Eren asked, but remained snuggled into Levi as they both watched the ferrets interact. 

“You haven’t, but that’s fine. I don’t have a major. It was Erwin’s suggestion that I attend university because it’s a good place for me to socialize, otherwise I’d just stay at home with my music. Though music is good and I make a lot of money selling my compositions, it’s not good to spend all my time doing that. I don’t mind though; I like to learn about things I don’t know about already. And I met you,” Levi answered, leaning into his boyfriend comfortably, and turning his face a bit to inhale Eren’s scent, humming as he exhaled, “You smell good too. Kind of spicy; I like it… What is your major?”

“Mmn, that’s probably my cologne. I’m majoring in bio with a minor in chem… My dad wants me to be a doctor like him… But I don’t really want to…” Eren explained, squeezing Levi tighter to fight his rising annoyance about the topic. “So you write music? Like a-...” Eren searched for the word then snapped his fingers with a smile, “You’re a composer! Can you show me your work sometime? I’d really like to hear it…” 

“If you don’t want to be a doctor, you shouldn’t be one. Your dad should know that your life is yours not his. You’re the one that has to live it,” Levi said in his usual earnest manner before he continued on, answering Eren’s questions, “Yes, I like music a lot and I am good at it. I started selling my pieces during highschool and now I have a couple of companies that I work with exclusively, though I make some just for me sometimes too. And of course I’ll show you, when you come over to my house for dinner… Mm, speaking of dinner, I’m hungry. Can we go back to your apartment?”

Eren blinked then chuckled, “Y-Yeah of course. Do you want me to order take out or do you want me to make you something?” Without thinking about it, his hand started to rub up and down Levi’s back, pressing hard enough to feel the bumps of Levi’s spine through his clothing. Now that Levi was letting Eren touch him, he couldn’t seem to help himself.

Levi was quiet for a long moment, a contemplative furrow wrinkling his brow as he considered what he wanted to eat, perfectly content with the pressure of Eren’s hand on his back; it was a pleasant sensation and not too soft. “I want pizza. Do you like pizza?” he finally answered, looking down at Lancelot and snapping his fingers to get the ferret’s attention so they could make their way to the cash register where the owner’s daughter, a redheaded woman named Petra was loitering and had been watching the two of them on and off since they’d come in. Levi was familiar with her since he came to the pet store weekly and sometimes more than once if he felt like it, but he’d never brought a friend with him before, so it made sense why she kept sending them curious looks.

“I could live off pizza,” Eren said with a cheeky grin, putting the basket on top of the counter. “Is this all we need? Hammock, litter, treats, toys?” Eren asked, ready to go run and grab everything else. 

Levi looked over all the items, cataloguing them and matching them to the ones he had at home and nodded. “Yeah, this is plenty to start. Lancelot quit it. You can have it when we go back to Eren’s,” he scolded as the ferret nipped at his shoelaces insistently.

“Hello there Levi, Lancelot,” Petra greeted brightly, leaning over the counter to look at the vested ferret currently wrestling with his owner’s foot before her hazel eyes shifted over Eren with curious interest, “And who’s this?”

“Hello Petra, Lancelot is extra excited today. It’s probably because we have company. This is my boyfriend, Eren, Eren, Petra. She works here, obviously. Her dad is the one that breeds ferrets like I was telling you,” Levi responded idly as he dug his wallet out of his pocket, not looking at either of them, but still leaning closer to Eren.

“Eren Jaeger, nice to meet you,” Eren said, giving Petra a shit eating grin before he quickly pulled out his own wallet. “I got it, all this stuff is for my place anyway,” said Eren as he puffed out his chest, trying to playfully bump Levi out of the way. 

Levi blinked at Eren a second then tucked his wallet back in, agreeing, “Okay, but I'll pay for the pizza.”

Petra’s brows climbed towards her hairline as the tall, rather handsome brunette was introduced. She’d wondered given how handsy he’d been with Levi. She’d never seen the oddly endearing young man with anyone but his family on occasion. She also knew about Levi's disorder and might have been a little more suspicious if Eren wasn't looking at him the way he was. It was pretty clear he was smitten. She hid a smile behind one hand as she watched the two of them interacting, and nodded, “It's nice to meet you too Eren, I didn’t know Levi was seeing anyone,” she replied as she rang up the items.

Eren’s cheeks turned pink as he began to punch in his pin with one hand while the other went to rub the back of his neck. “It’s a very recent development,” Eren said, turning his head to smile warmly down at his boyfriend next to him, “Had to work pretty hard to get him to give me the time of day… But it was worth it…” Eren couldn’t help when his smile turned into a delighted grin before he leaned down to kiss Levi on the top of his head. “Can you blame me? He’s adorable!” He finished, turning back to Petra and gesturing towards Levi like he was Will Smith on the red carpet. 

Levi looked between the two, nonplussed, snagging Eren’s gesturing hand in his and deadpanned, “He thinks I’m gorgeous too.” A smile ghosted his lips when Petra burst into giggles. 

“I bet. You make a very cute couple,” she said as she handed over their bag and Eren’s receipt. “Well you two enjoy the rest of your date. See you next week,” she bid, tossing a knowing wink at Eren. Somehow she had a feeling she’d be seeing a lot more of him.

“See you,” Levi replied in his usual dismissive manner and gave Eren’s hand a tug, “Let’s go. I’m even hungrier now.”

“Sure thing gorgeous… Sorry Petra, duty calls,” Eren said, grabbing the bag before Levi could drag him away, giving her a goofy smile and a ridiculous salute. He turned around and followed Levi out, perfectly happy to be dragged around by his boyfriend for the rest of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://s311.photobucket.com/user/XanderBradeshaw/media/SNK%20arts%20by%20me/spectrum%206-1_zpsi3cakfbj.jpeg.html)


	7. Sunflower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! Here's the next installment of this tooth-rotting fluff fest. More art by XanderB at the end of the chapter! 
> 
> Enjoy~

“I’ve never seen anyone eat pizza with a fork and knife before,” Eren commented, watching Levi delicately slice up his piece of pizza. They had went back to Eren’s apartment, ordered food, and were now seated at the dining table. Eren almost always ate in front of the tv, but when Levi insisted they sit at the table, he wasn’t going to refuse. 

Three large pies took up the table, a Hawaiian, a cheese, and a donair pizza covered in grease from the shop that served all of campus. Eren was about to dig in when he couldn’t help but watch Levi in bemusement.

“Hm?” Levi glanced up, mouth full and chewing his first bite methodically, looking away again as his cheeks heated upon seeing Eren’s expression and knowing that he was looking at him like _that_ again. He swallowed and licked his lips, eyes still downcast, thick dark lashes standing out in pretty contrast, feathered against his pinkened cheeks as he answered properly, “I don’t like how the grease feels on my fingers. And it’s better if I keep them away from my mouth anyhow.” He took another bite and fidgeted his feet under the table, accidentally bumping one of Eren’s and then doing it again purposely to see what his boyfriend would do.

“You’re cute,” Eren said, then bumped Levi’s foot back nonchalantly. Then once again, Levi bumped his foot which started a riveting game of footsie under the table, making Eren giggle around his food as he tried to concentrate on eating, but at the same time continue wrestling with Levi’s feet. 

Levi was grinning too, licking his lips again as he glanced back at Eren and trapped one of his feet between his own, thoroughly enjoying the game they’d begun beneath the table. It was fun and Eren was laughing; that was good too, he decided and boldly replied, “Not as cute as you.”

“Pfft, I’m sexy,” Eren said, dramatically rolling his eyes, but couldn’t hide his grin as he took a gigantic bite of pizza, pretty much shoving the whole slice in his mouth. Cheeks filled with food once again, he retaliated, using both of his feet to grab hold of Levi’s foot, then pulling it closer to Eren and gripping it tightly. He couldn’t help but feel competitive, always wanting to win even at these innocent games. 

“Okay, that too then,” the raven replied cheekily, shifting in his seat to allow his boyfriend to capture his foot entirely, not minding being caught. He wrinkled his nose as he watched Eren stuff his mouth with three quarters of a slice of pizza and laughed, “And you have a big mouth too.” He liked Eren’s mouth. He reached for the glass of ginger ale Eren had poured for him and took a sip, watching his boyfriend with bright eyes from behind the rim and still smiling, even as his stomach did that weird flip thing again.

Eren blushed bright red at Levi’s smile and forced himself not to cough with a mouth full of food. Eyes watering he swallowed hard, willing the large lump of food to go down before he grabbed his own coke and downed it. Wiping his mouth on the back of his arm, he tried to hide his embarrassment; Eren really needed to eat with more manners around Levi. “So um…” Eren started, rubbing the back of his neck and releasing Levi’s foot, “Do you want to look through my dvds?” 

Levi wiped his mouth with a napkin and straightened up in his seat as he answered, “Yes, I'll do that. Do you want to watch a specific genre? What kind of movies do you like? You didn't say before.” His words trailed off as his phone started buzzing and vibrating in his pocket and he pulled it out, brow furrowing and frowning as Mikasa’s contact blinked on the screen. He thumbed over the decline button and set it down, looking back to Eren expectantly and ignoring the subsequent buzz of each notification of his cousin's voicemail and no doubt multiple texts since he hadn't answered. He'd said he’d call _Kenny_ when he was ready; he wasn't ready yet.

Eren looked down at Levi’s phone then back at Levi but decided he wouldn’t say anything; Levi was a grown man, if he didn’t want to answer his phone Eren wouldn’t nag him. “I like action movies, sci-fi… And…” Eren paused, looking away like he didn’t want to say it. “Romances,” he finally mumbled, “But I’m not picky…” Eren stood up to lead them to the bookcase that housed all of his DVD’s, “Whatever you want.” 

Following after Eren and immediately looking over the rows of dvds, Levi ran his fingers along the titles, recognizing some and not others. Keeping in mind what Eren's preferences were, and movies he knew he liked himself, he picked Avatar out and offered it to Eren, “I like this one.”

“Oh good choice! I forgot I owned this,” Eren said, smiling down at the DVD then back up at Levi. He put the disc into his ps4 then flopped onto the couch, sprawling out as he flicked through the options with his controller to set up the movie. He watched as Levi sat down and before he could stop himself, Eren asked, “Do you like to cuddle?” 

Levi looked over at Eren, eyes settling on his hands holding the controller idly, shifting his own posture on the sofa next to his boyfriend. “Why, do you want to?” he replied, fingers tapping a rhythm against his thighs unconsciously and his eyes flicked up to Eren's face again curiously.

“Maybe… Yes… Only if you’re cool with it,” Eren said, speaking in a roundabout way, trying to seem unaffected, but the way he was fidgeting gave him away. 

“Okay,” Levi agreed easily, a smile ghosting over his lips as that warm fluttering feeling rippled through his belly and he placed one hand on it as if he might be able to feel it outwardly as well. He shifted closer to Eren, sidling right up against his side and after a moment or two, he pulled his feet up and pulled one of Eren's hands away from the controller to situate his arm around himself comfortably. Once he’d finished, he leaned against the taller young man heavily, tilting his head up to breathe in Eren's familiar pleasant scent, and placed a sudden, unexpected kiss to the side of his throat before he settled back in with a contented hum and turned his gaze back to the screen as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

“Cool okay… Okay cool… Coolio,” Eren said, then immediately wanted to die. _Coolio? Seriously? Did that seriously just come out his mouth?_ If it did, Levi made no mention, already seeming to be engrossed with the movie while Eren was trying to count to ten and settle his heart rate. Levi was close enough that he would notice if Eren was breathing irregularly but he couldn’t seem to calm down. This was prolonged contact; _prolonged_. Eren could smell the now familiar and pleasant scent of his shampoo, could feel his warmth. Could squeeze him closer. Could pull him into his lap. Could kiss him on the neck like Levi had just done to him. Could, could, _could_. But he didn’t, staying motionless with his eyes on the screen, unseeing. Somehow, Levi managed to pick such a long movie and Eren was in both heaven and hell at the same time, his hand constantly flexing and unflexing from where it was rested on Levi’s shoulder. 

_Keep it together, Jaeger, you stupid fuck,_ he chastised himself over and over again. 

Levi's toes twitched, unable to remain still completely, but he curled in closer to Eren and it was perhaps only fifteen minutes into the film when Levi's fingers took over fidgeting. His left hand found its way to Eren's belly, fingers idly playing with the fabric of his shirt as Levi watched the movie, captivated by the vivid imagery and listening to Eren's heart beat beneath his ear, unaware that his boyfriend was having an internal crisis. And it was only a few minutes after his fingers had started moving that Lancelot came ambling over, abandoning his hammock to instead clamber up onto the sofa and curl up in Eren's lap. 

Cuddling was like hugging, not to be done with strangers, but pleasant in comfortable company and both he and Lancelot seemed to agree that cuddling with Eren was more than pleasant. It was warm and Eren was firm and soft at the same time and Levi felt secure tucked snugly against his boyfriend's side as if it was only natural. “This is good,” he murmured, rubbing his cheek against Eren's chest in a fond gesture though he kept his eyes on the screen ahead of them.

“Yeah it is…” Eren said a little breathless, every touch of Levi’s fingers causing warmth to pool in his stomach. Giving Levi a squeeze ,he said, “I wanna… I wanna lay down… That okay with you?” 

Levi blinked up at Eren, brows furrowing in vague confusion. “Okay, should I move?” he answered, preparing to untangle himself from his boyfriend and pick Lancelot up; maybe Eren didn't want to cuddle more or maybe he just needed to get more comfortable. He hoped that was the case since he’d been pretty content curled up where he was and the movie had barely started yet.

“Nope,” Eren said with a grin, then pulled Levi with him as he laid down, both Lancelot and Levi on top of him now. “Ah, that’s better…” Eren sighed, shifting Levi around on top of him to get comfortable. There, Eren was now weighed down and unable to act on any of his desires. Perfect. 

Levi hummed, squirming against Eren until he’d made himself perfectly comfortable again and laid his head back on his boyfriend's hard chest to continue watching the movie, idly petting Lancelot who’d relocated to Eren's belly during the shift. The ferret yawned dramatically as his little claws kneaded at Eren's shirt and curled up further into a ball before promptly falling asleep. Levi snorted amusedly and shook his head a bit under Eren's chin, but didn't say anything, drawn back into the images telling the story on the screen.

Eren’s hand rubbed up and down Levi’s back, feeling the ridges going down to just above his boyfriend’s pants then back up again. He didn’t know when his eyes closed, but Eren was having a hard time keeping them open. He wasn’t sleepy per say, but he was enjoying mapping out the feeling of Levi which he found to be much more interesting than the movie. The thought of feeling Levi’s smooth skin popped into his mind, and before he could even think it through, his hand pressed under Levi’s shirt, feeling the skin of his boyfriend’s lower back. 

“Oh!” Levi blurted, arching in response to the smooth-warm pressure of Eren’s palm to his skin, but it was simply a startled reaction, not one of any particular revulsion, “You scared me.” He definitely hadn’t expected Eren to touch him under his clothes, at least not yet. It was weird, different, but it wasn’t uncomfortable and the pressure was nice and Eren’s hand was a little rough, probably from playing sports and he really kinda liked that. And he didn’t really think Eren was trying to do any sex stuff; he was probably just curious and wanted to feel like Levi had earlier when he’d touched Eren’s abdominals without warning. It wasn’t bad, just new and kind of exciting and thrilling and it made his skin tingle warmly where Eren was touching. And then he didn’t really _decide_ to do it, but he pushed back into the touch before his boyfriend could retreat so that it would be firmer and Eren would understand that Levi didn’t mean for him to stop. 

He didn’t look up at Eren, but his own fingers found their way under the hem of his boyfriend’s shirt, pressed and settled over the smooth ridges of muscle just below where Lancelot was resting. He didn’t think Eren would mind; it was only fair and it wasn’t as if he wasn’t curious too and Eren had said they could do things at their own pace, however they wanted. It was interesting how much it made his own belly flutter and how warm he felt in his skin touching and being touched by Eren; it was different from family or anyone else and it might not be the same with anyone who wasn’t Eren, but he couldn’t say he minded that. He didn’t really want to be touched by anyone else anyway; just Eren would be fine. “Your hand is really warm and rough, is that from playing Lacrosse?” he asked, still not looking at Eren, but watching his own hand under Eren’s shirt rousing Lancelot who stretched and wiggled his way up to sprawl on Eren’s unoccupied shoulder instead.

“Sorry…” Eren murmured, freezing for a moment, then seeming to understand that Levi didn’t want him to stop. His fingers fanned out over the small of Levi’s back and continued to rub, holding Levi tighter as he pressed firm kisses to the top of Levi’s head. He was having a hard time thinking with Levi’s hand exploring up his shirt, but that just made Eren want to hold his boyfriend closer, completely abandoning any hope of watching the movie at all. “Probably,” Eren said into Levi’s hair, hand smoothing up his boyfriend’s side to curve around his rib cage, “Lots of calluses and stuff… Is it too irritating? Should I stop?” 

Levi tried to look up, but he could only see the bob of Eren's throat, eyelashes ticklishly brushing beneath the taller male's jawline. He shook his head minutely to emphasize his words as he spoke, chin rubbing against Eren's collarbone, “No. I like it. They're nice, mn, your hands I mean. They're a lot bigger than mine and rougher, but I don't mind. It's good like that.”

“Everything of mine is bigger than yours,” Eren said with a chuckle, nuzzling into the top of Levi’s head. They stayed like that a moment just enjoying each other’s warmth before Eren spoke again, “I’m really happy you are here… I’m really happy we are dating…” 

It wasn't conscious when Levi smiled against Eren's skin and it was only for a moment before he drew his lips away to respond to his boyfriend's words, “Me too. I like to be with you. I didn't really think about dating much and then you asked me and I started to… a lot. I didn't know I'd meet someone like you. I really like you Eren.” He pressed his hand flat on Eren's belly, covering the indent of his navel with his palm and spreading his fingers over the muscles curiously as they tensed beneath his touch and he wondered if maybe Eren's fluttered inside too. 

Eren made a high pitched squealing noise, then promptly flipped them over, laying on top of Levi and probably crushing his boyfriend, but he couldn’t help it. Lancelot made an unhappy chitter noise at the two, nipping at the top of Eren’s head then flounced off the couch to go back to his hammock. “You should just stay forever,” Eren said petulantly into Levi’s neck, squeezing him like he wanted to never let go. 

Levi yelped and then began laughing, squirming under Eren and hugging him around the middle. “I can’t do that. What about all mine and Lancelot’s things? Mikasa would be so mad though,” he said breathlessly, grinning against Eren’s ear, face a bit flushed from how warm he felt and the weight of his boyfriend pinning him to the sofa. He couldn’t really see the movie anymore, but he didn’t mind; this was decidedly better.

“She’d be fineeeee,” Eren whined, pulling back just enough to rest his chin on Levi’s chest and reveal his intense green eyes, “Okay yeah… She’d hunt me down and castrate me probably…” He wrinkled his nose for a moment before he gave Levi a sly grin, “Let’s run away together then. No more expectations or rules or responsibilities! Just you and me!” Eren’s face was once again an impressive shade of red; when did he become such a sap?

“Why do we have to run away? I’ll protect you from Mika… Besides, it’s just you and me right now,” Levi pointed out, not quite grasping the devoted undertones in Eren’s declaration. He shifted under Eren and watched his mouth for long moments as his own hands began to travel along Eren’s back with unconscious interest. It was hard too, like Eren’s belly and chest and he found that he liked the feel of it about as much, humming his appreciation breathily. 

“No I mean like…” Eren started then sighed, turning his face down to nuzzle into Levi’s chest. “Do you wear cologne?” he suddenly asked, taking another deep breath of the smell that was uniquely Levi’s. If his boyfriend did, Eren was going to buy the stuff and bathe in it. 

Levi wrinkled his nose, and shied away from the ticklish feeling of Eren's breath, sinking back as far as possible in the sofa, “No, why?” He counted Eren's ribs, tracing them with his fingers distractedly. He didn't need to see his expression to know Eren was looking at him like _that_ again. And he was getting really warm now, especially with his sweater still on, but he didn't want to move to take it off.

“You smell good… I like it,” Eren sighed in contentment, but stopped nuzzling into Levi when he felt his boyfriend squirm. “Everything good? Or am I too heavy? I can get up,” he said, looking up with flushed cheeks and eyes partially glazed over. 

“Mmno, not too heavy, but it is getting kind of hot with my sweater. You’re really warm all the time,” Levi replied, glancing over Eren’s flushed face before settling on his lips like usual and shifting under him again, trying not so subtly to push his pullover up without sitting up properly, but the shirt underneath kept riding up too.

“Sorry about that… I run hot…” Eren said with a chuckle then sat up to straddle Levi’s hips. “Here let me help,” he said beginning to tug on the bottom of Levi’s sweater. 

Levi let him, leaning up some and putting his arms up helpfully, ending up tangled awkwardly in the fabric seconds later when the shirt under his sweater remained stubbornly adhered to the back of it. He made a huffy sound, only his furrowed brow and lidded eyes visible as the material covered the bottom of his face frustratingly. He wriggled under Eren as he tried to simultaneously escape the sweater and cover his now exposed belly, voice muffled, but decidedly amused, “M’stuck now.” Even if it was a bit annoying, it was too silly to not be a little funny too.

Eren froze, eyes wide with dilated pupils as he looked down on Levi’s now exposed torso. Smooth skin and lithe muscle were on display and Eren was having a hard time looking away. Shaking his head to force himself out of his stupor, Eren mumbled to himself, “Clothes should be illegal,” before he helped to untangle Levi from the shirts. It was then that he felt his dick rise to the occasion, half hard in his pants, so he sprang up off of Levi and blurted, “Bathroom!” before he speed walked out of the living room. 

Levi sat up, blinking after Eren's sudden retreat, still a little breathless and overheated. He folded up his sweater idly and set it on the sofa next to him before he settled his hands on his thighs, bouncing one leg as he waited for his boyfriend's return. But Eren was taking a while and he peered around curiously, finally noticing how dark outside it had gotten. The movie was almost over and he’d missed some of his favourite parts but he didn't even mind, distracted by the large windows again. 

He’d gotten up from the couch and was drawn to them almost magnetically and it wasn't until he was right up to the glass that he realized they were doors and that there was a railing outside. He’d definitely be able to see the stars better from outside and he wasn't afraid of heights. He pulled the door open without much thought, smiling as a pleasant breeze ruffled his hair and he stepped out onto the balcony in his socks. He leaned on the railing and looked up. It was as he’d thought; there was a little light pollution like Eren had said, a hazy orange glow, but it wasn't too bad and the view was otherwise awesome.

In the bathroom, Eren glared down at his dick with crossed arms. “Go down, go down, go down,” he scolded it, but still it took quite a while for the heat of desire to dissipate in the cool of the washroom. Finally it went down and Eren went back to the living room and almost had a heart attack because Levi wasn’t where he'd left him. Had he noticed what had happened? Was he grossed out? Fuck! Eren looked around wildly for a moment before a cool breeze caught his attention. The balcony. 

Walking up to the glass doors and stepping outside, relief washed through Eren as he watched Levi watching the stars. “Is it as good as you thought it would be?” he asked, stepping up behind Levi and wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's waist. 

Levi startled, but he was beaming when he turned his head towards Eren, “Yes! You can still see plenty.” He settled one hand over Eren's at his waist while he pointed with the other eagerly, turning back to the sky, “See, there's Cassiopeia and there's Ursa major just there, and just the tip of Orion is peeking out over there.”

“Mm, yeah it’s pretty… I’ve never looked at the stars from here before,” Eren said truthfully, resting his chin on the top of Levi’s head as he looked up at the sky, “But I think it’s better with you here than it would be by myself. Everything is better with you around, even an eight A.M. lecture…” 

Levi's ears felt oddly hot as Eren finished talking and his belly was fluttering again and he wondered if Eren could feel it, but he didn't ask and he didn't mind. He was glad that Eren apparently liked being with him as much as he enjoyed the taller male's company; that was good. He smiled a little, expression softening with contented pride. This second date was definitely turning out as well as the first. “Then we’ll have to have some more dates. I like sitting next to you in Dr. Hange's class but I like it better when we can talk and stuff,” he said quietly, leaning back into Eren and still looking up at the starry night as he threaded his fingers with his boyfriend's firmly, “We can't cuddle there either.”

“That’s true… I’d much rather cuddle you than sit in Hange’s class,” Eren agreed, kissing the nape of Levi’s neck then rubbing his face into the soft skin and undercut. 

Levi made a breathy sound somewhere between pleasure and protest, ducking his head and raising his shoulders, shying away from the unfamiliar sensation on his nape. It wasn't bad, but he hadn't been expecting it and it felt weirdly tingly and hot now. He didn't _not_ like it; maybe after they practiced more, it wouldn't be so weird feeling. No one had kissed him there before. 

Abruptly, the dark outside actually registered, finally distracted from the stars overhead in the wake of Eren's kiss, he asked, “What time is it?” He'd only just realized, but it was probably getting late. He should probably go home even if he didn't really want to yet; Kenny might get worried and Mika was already being insufferable.

“Mm, like nine o’clock?” Eren said, absentmindedly, still plastered to Levi’s back, “I guess it’s kind of late, huh? You should call your family.” Eren tried to mask the pout in his voice, but it was hard. He didn’t want Levi to leave. 

“Yes. I'm later than I thought I would be,” Levi said with a nod, continuing when his boyfriend didn't immediately release him, “I have to go get my phone.” Eren never seemed to want to let go which wasn't really bad either, but it made it harder to leave, especially because it wasn't as if Levi didn't want to stay. He had to go home though; he didn't have any of his things with him.

“I don’t want you to go,” Eren whined, holding on tighter for a moment before he sighed and let go completely, “I guess I’ll just have to look forward to our next date then…” Placing his hand on the small of Levi’s back, he guided his boyfriend back inside to retrieve his phone. 

Levi smiled, glancing at his boyfriend as Eren led him back inside his apartment. “I'll look forward to it too. Does the dinner at my house count as a date?” he questioned curiously as he stepped over to retrieve his phone from the kitchen table.

He turned it on, unlocking the screen to the multitude of notifications, mostly missed calls and messages from Mikasa over the past few hours. He huffed in annoyance as he swiped them off the screen with a fingertip, not bothering to listen to or read any of them and pulling up his uncle's contact info instead. He absently sought out Eren again and leaned against him as he drafted a text; he was ready to be picked up now.

“Oh wait!” Eren suddenly blurted, “I almost forgot!” He dashed into his bedroom and came out with a perfectly folded ferret, coloured in exactly like Lancelot was. “I promised I’d make you a Lancelot with nice paper,” Eren said beaming, offering the folded paper to Levi. 

Levi looked up from his uncle’s affirmative return message, eyes widening and lighting up with delight as he reached out with his unoccupied hand to accept the paper Lancelot. Eren wasn’t lying about how much of a difference the paper made. “It’s perfect,” he said, looking it over with the same inquisitive awe as he did every time Eren gave him another piece of origami. And this one was just, “I love it. It looks just like him. You’re amazing.” 

His phone buzzed in his hand and he looked at it, holding the origami to his chest with his other hand like it was something precious. “Uncle Kenny is on his way to get me now, can you put Lancelot on his lead so I can put on my sweater? You’ll come with me in the elevator right?” he asked as he began to fidget his feet, a little anxious about leaving now that he had to get ready to go. It was okay though, he could always text or call Eren if he missed him once he was home; Eren had said so. Saturday was soon, but maybe not soon enough.

“I’m glad you like it… Anything you want, I’ll try and make… And of course,” Eren said with a smile before kissing Levi on the forehead and turning to gather up a sleepy Lancelot. He put on the ferret’s lead then grabbed his letterman jacket and his keys, watching Levi put on his sweater. Offering his hand for his boyfriend to take, Eren opened the door then led them to the elevator. 

It didn’t take long to get to the ground level, Eren holding on to Levi the whole time so that his boyfriend would feel safe. He led him outside, but there were no vehicles waiting yet. Eren noticed Levi shiver in the coolness of the evening air and immediately slipped off his jacket to put over his shoulders. “You look cold,” Eren said with a shrug when Levi looked up at him questioningly, “I want you to be warm on your way home.” He didn’t mention that Levi wearing his letterman jacket was enough to fill his stomach with butterflies. Even though it was way too big; Levi was literally swimming in it with sleeves way passed the tips of his fingers, it was a good look and Eren was willing to give up the jacket completely if it meant Levi would wear it sometimes. 

Levi hummed and cuddled into the large jacket which was warm from Eren, and smiled vaguely at his boyfriend, “It smells like you. Is it okay to give it to me? Do I have to give it back?”

Eren smiled, pulling on the front of the jacket to adjust the material. “You can keep it… looks better on you anyway,” Eren said, not batting an eye at giving away his favourite jacket. Levi wearing it just felt right and damned if Eren was going to take it back. He could just order a new one if he really missed it. 

“Okay,” Levi replied before he reached to take Lancelot as Kenny pulled up. He swiftly made his way over the handful of feet as if he was going to leave, but only deposited the ferret in the passenger seat and told his uncle to wait just a minute; he’d forgotten something.

He swiftly went back towards Eren who was looking a little lost and disappointed, probably thinking Levi hadn't remembered to say goodbye this time. He practically threw himself at the taller boy, wrapping his arms around around Eren's neck tightly and perched on the tips of his toes to press a firm kiss to his boyfriend's cheek. “I'll see you on Saturday. I'll text you,” he said as he pulled away to look at Eren's face properly and unconsciously tangled his fingers in Eren's hair as he hugged him.

“Saturday,” Eren answered with a grin, hugging him close once again before he let Levi go, albeit reluctantly. He followed Levi with his eyes as he made his way to the car, nodding his head at Levi’s uncle then gave them a little wave as he watched them drive away, decidedly rooted in spot until they were out of sight. Best movie date ever. 

“Good date?” Kenny asked, brows raised with interest seeing as he’d just watched his nephew practically tackle the other young man who was his boyfriend of less than a week. It was really something; it wasn't that he had never expected Levi to get to this stage in his life, but it was still a little surreal now that it was happening.

“Yes, very good. I like Eren a lot,” Levi answered amiably as he settled Lancelot in his lap and buckled up, not looking at his uncle.

“What did you guys do?” Kenny continued the conversation, genuinely curious and maybe just a little concerned. It wasn't that he thought Eren would take advantage, but Levi sometimes acted impulsively, especially when he fixated on something particular. No doubt, the reason Levi had only just contacted him was because he’d lost track of time and impulsively stayed long past dinner, something he was normally vigilant about. He was certainly allowed, but Kenny wouldn't be a parent if he didn't worry about the children he’d raised.

“We cuddled,” Levi said first, slouching back in his seat and burrowing into the heavy jacket, continuing while petting Lancelot and looking out the window, “And we went to the pet store. Eren bought a lot of things for Lancelot so that we can spend the night sometimes. And we had pizza and watched most of a movie and we looked at the stars. Eren has a balcony and he said I can bring my telescope next time… And he kissed the back of my neck which was weird, but kind of good too. Made my skin hot and kind of tingly.”

Kenny pursed his lips to keep from smiling and shook his head a little, “And you didn't mind all that? Eren didn't ask for anything else?”

“Like what? He said before he wants to kiss me but he said we would only do that once I'm ready, but I'm not really sure how I'll know when that is. I think I'd like to kiss him too, that's why Mika is so mad at me,” Levi replied flatly, still looking out the window as Kenny drove.

“Don't worry about Mikasa, she'll get over it. If you want to kiss Eren, that's your business. I think Eren probably meant that he's going to wait for you to kiss him first or at least let him know when you want to. That kind of thing, when you like somebody like that,” Kenny rambled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as he steered with his other hand, floundering to explain, “You'll probably have a moment when you just really want to and that's when you'll know. I think when that happens, you should probably just go for it. I don't think Eren will mind, just remember you don't have to rush these things, okay? It's good that Eren doesn't mind waiting. That means he's serious so you have to think seriously too. I think you should also ask Erwin for his advice and see what he thinks about all this.”

Levi nodded absently, chewing his bottom lip, mind already elsewhere as he buried his nose in the collar of the jacket, “Okay. I will.” It wasn't like he hadn't already planned to anyway; he had questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://s311.photobucket.com/user/XanderBradeshaw/media/SNK%20arts%20by%20me/spectrum%207_zpscnanw9v6.jpeg.html)


	8. Canary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AH! You are all so lovely! This fic has been getting so much love and the art too, so thanks a bunch. we really never expected it. XanderB is currently on vacation, but we still wanted to give you guys another update and some more art. And you can probably expect another update next weekend since we're already in the midst of working on the next chap in between working on others. We just wanna say, we appreciate every comment even if we don't get the chance to respond to them (we're just always so busy with writing in our free time). We read every one and when we can, we reply. 
> 
> Also, you can message us on Tumblr or just creep if you'd rather; we won't mind either way. Sometimes we post sneak peeks and other goodies on there.
> 
>  
> 
> [XanderB](http://xanderb-ao3.tumblr.com/)  
> [Teapotscandal](http://teapotscandal.tumblr.com)
> 
>  
> 
> Anyways, art's at the end like usual. Enjoy~

Levi arrived at Erwin’s office promptly at ten to two o’clock, waiting the ten minutes until his appointment seated in one of the smooth chairs, bouncing a leg as he waited for the receptionist to call him in. He’d made a list of things in his head that he had to remember to ask Erwin and he’d been adding to it all week. There was so much he didn’t know and it was weird asking Uncle Kenny and he was still not talking to Mika. Finally the receptionist called his name and he stood up just as Erwin opened the door.

“I have so much to tell you,” he said in greeting as he stepped into the familiar office and made himself comfortable in his usual seat, settling his messenger bag next to him and folding his hands in his lap, tapping his toes idly as he focused on Erwin’s eyebrows like he always did. They really were something.

“Hello to you too, Levi,” Erwin said, used to Levi’s blunt nature by now, “I’m glad you are in such high spirits. I take it your new friendship is going well?” Levi was making so many strides in his personal life that Erwin was glad he’d encouraged the young man to go to school. 

“Well yes, it's very good. Eren and I are dating now. Since Sunday,” Levi replied, tone affectionate and decidedly proud as he made the declaration, and wrinkled his nose in contrast when he added, “Mikasa is really mad about it. She says I'm not ready.”

Erwin’s eyes widened for a moment, clearly surprised by the development, but he immediately schooled his expression back into his usual professional mask. “How do you feel? Do you think she’s right?” Erwin asked. Mikasa had always been a good support for Levi, but it was Erwin’s job to help develop his patients’ independence. It made no difference to Erwin how ready his cousin felt him to be; his only concern was Levi’s opinion on the matter. 

“No. I'm really pissed at her about that. She said I don't know what I'm doing and that because I never thought about dating before that I'm just being impulsive and that I'm not ready for things like kissing and sex. But just because I don't know doesn't mean I don't want to. And she doesn't know Eren the same. I told her it's up to me to decide and uncle Kenny said it's my business if I want to kiss Eren… But she's being really annoying about it. And I wish she'd stop because I wanted to ask her about kissing, and it's too weird talking to uncle Kenny about it mostly because I don't think he's kissed anyone in a really long time. So we agreed I should ask you about it,” Levi explained, rambling on and oversharing without hesitation, pawing through his bag for his notebook so that he could record what answers Erwin would have for him. 

“Okay…” Erwin agreed slowly, digesting Levi’s words as he sat back in his plush leather chair and crossed his legs, “I will answer your questions to the best of my knowledge, but know that this is not necessarily my area of expertise. Ask away.”

“How will I know when it’s the right time to kiss? Is there some kind of signal? Uncle Kenny said I’ll just know, but I’m not so sure. He said there would be a moment, but what if I think it’s the moment and it’s not?” Levi launched into his inquiries, pen to paper in preparation to take note, not looking up at Erwin as he spoke and waited for the response.

Erwin sighed, massive eyebrows scrunching together. “That’s a tough one… Because it depends on the person. Have you talked to Eren about kissing? Has he said he wants to kiss?” 

Levi huffed, “Yes. I talked to Eren first and he answered some other things too and he said he wanted to kiss me, but then he said we’d only kiss when I’m ready, but even if I’m ready, I still want to know when the best time is to act on it. And I don’t want to do it badly either even though Eren said we’d practice. I don’t want to guess.” People kept saying it depended on who you were kissing and that you’d just know when it was the right moment, but Levi didn’t have anything to compare it to since it would be the first one. Should he kiss someone else first so that he’d know? His nose wrinkled at the thought and he shook his head; he didn’t want to kiss anyone else just like he didn’t want Eren to kiss anyone but him. Would Eren get mad if he did? Levi probably would even if he hadn’t kissed Eren yet himself.

“I can hear your frustration Levi… But being worried about this is normal, everyone goes through it regardless if they are neurotypical. I can assure you that Eren is worrying about the exact same thing,” Erwin said with a gentle smile, “If you are worried about the timing when you feel like you want to kiss him, you could always ask before hand to not make a mistake. But since Eren has already expressed interest in kissing, I’m sure he’d be happy with any kiss at any point you feel comfortable giving. As for being bad at it, mostly everyone is their first time. But might I suggest, mouthwash and gum so your breath isn’t bad, leaning in slowly to avoid bumping your faces together, turning your head so your noses don’t collide, and watch your teeth so you don’t bite him. The rest is up to the two of you to figure out.” 

Levi nodded unconsciously as he scratched out notes onto the paper in his lap; finally something that made some fucking sense. “Can I use my tongue? Actually is it okay to lick him in general like on his neck and cheek and stuff? I kind of want to know what he tastes like. Or is that weird?” He’d seen it in movies and books sometimes before, though it was usually pretty difficult to really tell what they were doing and it wasn’t what he imagined; come to think of it, that might be what made those sounds when the teenagers did it.

“That is not an abnormal urge,” Erwin assured awkwardly, having a difficult time explaining, “But the only way to find out is to communicate with your partner what he is comfortable with. Maybe try experimenting a little then asking him if he’s still receptive; I’m sure Eren will tell you if something makes him uncomfortable. He might also do it to you first and you will have to tell him if you like it or not. A lot of this takes place through unspoken cues that I know you have trouble understanding… so the only way around that is to communicate your needs, Levi, and be open to Eren’s.” 

“Okay, I can do that,” Levi replied flatly, taking more notes that seemed relevant. He was quiet for a minute, thinking about what Erwin had said and what had already happened. It seemed he hadn’t been navigating too badly so far which was good, since he hadn’t been sure. “He likes to touch me a lot and I don’t mind since I told him he can’t do it too soft and he lets me touch him too and he kissed me on the back of my neck yesterday. I didn’t not like it, but I didn’t say so. I’ll text him later. I have another question though. Mikasa wasn’t wrong about _everything_ though I’m still mad at her anyway. I don’t know about sex things and I’m pretty sure Eren wants to have sex with me. Not yet! Obviously, but sometime. What comes after kissing if not sex straight away? And what kind of things should I be expecting? Do I need to make preparations?” he questioned, needing to know now that he’d started thinking about these things. He hadn’t had an interest before, but now he did and he wasn’t entirely sure where to get accurate information about it; Erwin seemed the most appropriate to ask.

“You’ve had basic sexual education, correct?” Erwin asked and Levi nodded, “Okay good.” Standing up from his chair, he went to a filing cabinet beside his desk and fingered through the folders until he pulled out a piece of paper. “Here are a list of sex positive and health websites you can look through for research,” Erwin said then leaned over his desk and pulled out a pen to star three of the links. Looking up, he handed the paper to Levi, “Those three specifically have in-depth descriptions of same-sex intercourse. Sex isn’t just penetrative, there’s a plethora of other things you can explore with your partner and he will want to explore with you at varying degrees of intimacy. Since I have no experience, being heterosexual myself, I think these would be the best resource for you to learn what you need to know.” 

Levi cocked his head, also looking up, meeting Erwin’s gaze for a second before he focused on the offered sheet of paper and took it. He scanned over the list, nodding as Erwin talked; perfect, literature was helpful. Hopefully there would be pictures too. He blinked as Erwin finished speaking; of course Erwin wasn’t homosexual, but why had he said... “Oh, because Eren and I are both male. I don’t know if I’m homosexual or not, but Eren is and since I only like him, that makes sense. Thank you Erwin,” he replied with a half smile as if it had only just occurred to him. He felt a bit better about things now and he knew what he would be spending the rest of his afternoon and evening doing, not that he minded research.

“I only mentioned it because that is the kind of sex you will be experiencing… You could be bisexual, pansexual, demisexual. But logic dictates we focus on the one form for now…” Erwin explained with a nod as he sat down once again, “Now for the remainder of our session, let’s go over some strategies for you to effectively set boundaries with your cousin…” 

***

Walking up to the door of the address Levi’d texted him, Eren rang the doorbell then stepped back to wait, looking over himself to make sure he was presentable. He was wearing a white shirt with black jeans with his hair combed. Eren was really trying his best to look presentable to meet Levi’s family, but he was already fidgeting and nervous about the dinner and had been for a few days. Levi’s cousin already didn’t like him so Eren had to give a good impression to Levi’s uncle.

Levi answered the door since it was his company they were expecting, wearing a dark blue apron with a pair of ridiculously large and voluptuous red lips and “Kiss the cook” in scrawled cursive splashed across the front of it over his rust coloured v-neck tee and grey skinny jeans, a purple headband pushing his fringe back from his face and out of his eyes. “You're early today! I'm still cooking,” he greeted, beaming at his boyfriend, delighted that Eren had arrived sooner. He’d been waiting all day.

“Yeah… I couldn’t wait to see you,” Eren said with a grin, leaning down to give Levi a quick peck on the cheek in greeting. The smell of cooking was wafting out the front door and Eren took a deep breath. “It smells heavenly! Watcha making? I also brought pie,” he said, holding up the plastic bag he held in one hand. 

Levi tilted his head into the kiss, smiling as Eren pulled away again. “Eggplant parmesan and garlic bread. What kind of pie did you bring?” he answered, reaching for Eren's unoccupied hand, eying the bag curiously as he ushered his boyfriend inside the welcoming and clean home and led the way down the hall. 

The kitchen was at the back of the house, the living room right off to the left of the front door and the dining room between the two, a set of opened french doors separating the living room from the others. To the right was a sitting room with large windows and houseplants, a plush lounger, lamp, bookshelves lined with puzzles, books and boardgames, cozy and relaxing. Next to that, the steps leading upstairs where the bedrooms were, then the main floor bathroom and then the stairs to the basement where the laundry room and rec room were. 

“Strawberry rhubarb… I hope that’s okay,” Eren said, eyes wide as he looked around the place, “You have a really nice home… Looks super like… Comfy? I guess.” Eren’s nerves were shining through and he hadn’t even seen a glimpse of the other Ackermans. 

“That's my favourite kind of pie. The house is good. I'll show you my room after dinner; it's upstairs,” Levi answered as the music playing in the kitchen filtered through their conversation and they came to the end of the hall.

Kenny closed the refrigerator as the two young men came around the corner and leaned back against the countertop and grinned at them. “You must be the infamous Eren Levi's been bragging about, it's good to finally meet you,” he greeted with a teasing wink.

Levi pulled a face, the back of his neck and cheeks heating oddly with embarrassment, and complained, “I wasn't _bragging_ Uncle Kenny.”

Standing up straighter, Eren stepped towards Levi’s uncle and held out his hand with a nervous smile, “It’s nice to meet you Mr. Ackerman… Thank you for inviting me to dinner.” 

Kenny’s grin broadened as he shook Eren's hand in a friendly-firm grip. “You can call me Kenny kid. Mr. Ackerman makes me sound like an old man,” he said with a chuckle.

Levi snorted, “You _are_ an old man.” He bumped Eren with his shoulder, “You can put the pie on the counter.”

“Hey I'm only forty-nine, not over the hill yet,” Kenny protested good-naturedly though Levi ignored him, hiding his grin as he turned away to stir the pasta on the stove.

“Okay sir…Kenny… yeah,” Eren spluttered then turned to place the plastic bag on the counter. He looked around, shifting his weight from one foot to the other then asked “Is there anything I could help with?” He didn’t just want to hover, Eren wanted to keep his hands busy before he did something stupid. 

“You can do the garlic bread,” Levi chimed, not turning from the food he was checking over, peering into the oven now at the breaded eggplant he had baking. Kenny looked at Eren knowingly, aware he was making the kid nervous though he hadn't done anything particularly intimidating. 

He stepped away from the counter to allow Eren to take his place. “I'll leave you to it then. Make yourself at home Eren. And good luck, he's a slavedriver in the kitchen,” he said, clapping the tall brunette on the shoulder before he lazily meandered out to the dining room to set the table, leaving the two alone in the kitchen.

Eren swallowed hard as he watched Kenny meander out of the kitchen before he turned back to Levi. “Would you like me any less if I told you I don’t really know how to cook,” Eren said with a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. 

Levi wiped his hands on his apron as he finally looked at his boyfriend again, brow furrowed a bit as he answered, “Of course not. I'm the best cook in the house. Kenny taught me but I'm even better at it than him now and Mikasa is terrible at it. She'll say it's ‘cause I'm too picky, but it's really because she's bad at it. She even singed her eyebrows and eyelashes when she tried to barbeque once. I can teach you if you want. Garlic bread is really easy even for a beginner. I learned how to make it when I was eight.”

“Well if you don’t want garlic bread that doesn’t have any garlic and is burnt to a crisp, then you are gonna have to teach me,” Eren said with a chuckle though he wasn’t kidding. He could burn water. “The only thing I really know how to make is like instant ramen and kraft dinner. I live off of sandwiches and take out,” he explained, bowing his head in shame. 

Levi wrinkled his nose, but nodded. “You shouldn't live on that stuff. You can always come eat here if you want or I could come to your apartment and I'll teach you,” he agreed, turning towards the fridge. “It's even easier this time because I already made up garlic spread before so all you have to do is cut the bread which is on the counter already and spread it on, then we bake it for fifteen minutes. There's knives in the drawer to your left,” he directed as he retrieved the herbed garlic butter.

Giving Levi a determined nod, Eren went to the drawer and pulled out a chef's knife, completely ignorant to the kind of knife he was actually supposed to use. Usually, all the bread he consumed was pre sliced but he figured all knives were meant to cut so this big ass shiny knife would do well. Holding the knife downwards like he was about to stab the life out of the bread, he stuck his tongue out the corner of his mouth in concentration and considered the best way to chop the bread in half. He was thinking maybe like with a sword before Levi stopped him. 

Levi's hand pressed against Eren's forearm, “Not that one. You have to use the breadknife,” he said, elaborating when Eren's brow furrowed in confusion, “The big one with the kinda wavy edge.” As he described it, his fingertip demonstrated on Eren's arm, unconsciously tracing the shape from memory.

Eren hummed for a moment before he dug in the drawer to retrieve the knife Levi described to compare. “I dunno, this one seems more badass,” Eren said, gesturing with the chef’s knife but ultimately listening to Levi and putting it away. Taking the bread in hand once more, Eren began to saw away at it with jerking uncoordinated movements. Specs of crust were flying everywhere. 

“You’re so messy,” Levi observed, watching Eren vigorously slicing the loaf of french bread and sending crumbs across the countertop. He shook his head, and retrieved a butter knife from the drawer, “When you’re done cutting it, we need to spread the garlic butter on it.”

“Got it!” Eren said, finishing up with the bread then taking up the butter knife Levi’d supplied. Scooping a large amount of garlic spread, probably way too much, he started smoothing it out over the bread. “More is better, right?” Eren asked, about to scoop even more butter out. 

“Not really, at least for this. Too much might make it soggy,” Levi answered, wrinkling his nose and stepping closer to Eren, reaching for his hands to demonstrate the best way to spread just the right amount evenly over the sliced bread, “Here, do it like this.”

“Huh… you’re good at this shit,” Eren complimented, taking a step back to watch Levi expertly spread the butter over the bread. “If you cook for me all the time,” Eren said, wrapping his arms around Levi’s waist from behind and resting his chin on Levi’s shoulder to watch, “You are never gonna get rid of me…” 

“You make that sound like a bad thing. I like cooking and I want to keep you anyhow so I can't really say I mind,” the shorter man replied, tilting his head a bit and looking out his peripheral at his boyfriend as he completely took over finishing the garlic bread while leaning back into Eren.

There was the sound of a throat being cleared on the other side of the kitchen as Mikasa came down the hall to the scene between her cousin and his boyfriend. It wasn't even that they were doing anything particularly offensive, but they’d only been dating a week! And it pissed her off how familiar the jock seemed with touching Levi; if they were that familiar already… She was sure Levi was getting in over his head.

Turning around to see who came into the kitchen, Eren gave Mikasa a goofy smile. “Oh hey Mikasa! Levi’s teaching me how to make garlic bread,” he said, clearly delighted by the idea. He was too happy to notice her increasingly sour energy. 

“Is _that_ what they’re calling it now?” the young woman responded dryly, raising a brow and looking pointedly at where Eren’s arms were wrapped around her cousin all snug and cozy like that was a normal thing. And it was, just… Not for Levi. And that made it weird and suspicious.

“What else would it be called?” Levi asked, not bothering to look at Mikasa as he lined the bread up on a baking sheet. Mikasa snorted and shook her head as she stepped further into the kitchen to plop herself on one of the stools situated at the island adjacent the couple at the counter, still scrutinizing them indiscreetly.

Eren held eye contact with Mikasa as his brows raised. Was that how she was going to play it? “Huh, maybe there is another name for garlic bread…” he pondered, being deliberately obtuse as he removed one hand from Levi’s waist to dig in his pocket for his phone. Eren tapped on his phone like he was looking through google then quickly put it away and went back to his original position cuddling Levi from behind. “Nope, nothing. Sorry, Levi, I have no idea what the cool kids are calling garlic bread nowadays…” Maybe he shouldn’t egg Mikasa on, but the very small amount of patience Eren did have was being worn thin. He hadn’t done anything wrong, only liked Levi probably way too much for how long they’d been together. Eren was tired of being treated like a villain. 

Mikasa narrowed her eyes at Eren, “Well-played,” she conceded as Levi slipped away from his boyfriend to put the pan in the oven and pull the pasta from the heat.

“Were you trying to be funny Mika? I don’t get it,” he said, giving her an unimpressed look over his shoulder as he strained the noodles in the sink.

“Of course you don’t…” the girl muttered under her breath, turning her attention to her cousin and shaking her head again, “Nevermind, it wasn’t a good joke anyway.” There was no point in explaining; he’d just get mad and they’d already been fighting for days. Besides, Eren had obviously gotten it; it’d been meant for him anyways. It wasn’t like she really hated him; she didn’t know him and wasn’t just going to hand her cousin over. Not that it mattered much what she thought. 

After his last appointment with Erwin, Levi had come home and told her in no uncertain terms that she didn’t have to like it, but she wasn’t to interfere or he’d not speak to her again.They were barely talking as it was and she would be lying if she said she didn’t miss him. She’d always been there, keeping an eye on him, being his safety net, probably closer to him than anyone else and maybe that was the unspoken reason she was having such a hard time giving him up to some boy he’d just met. She didn’t trust Eren and until she did, he didn’t deserve Levi as far as she was concerned.

She heaved a sigh and got up again. “I’ll get the drinks,” she offered, changing the subject and smoothing out her expression though her gaze remained sharp, “Do you want a beer or juice or water Eren?”

“I want chocolate milk,” Levi supplied helpfully as he began to prepare the finished meal, serving it up when Kenny brought the plates out for him.

Mikasa rolled her eyes, but pulled the milk and chocolate syrup out of the refrigerator as well as a beer for her dad and set them on the counter.

Eren grinned at Mikasa unabashedly. Levi wasn’t deliberately obtuse, but it sure was an effective strategy. “Juice is fine, thank you,” Eren said to Mikasa before he turned back to Levi, “Need help with anything else? It smells so fucking good I’m going to eat myself into a coma…” 

“Mm you can stir my chocolate milk and help Mika bring the drinks out,” Levi replied, smiling to himself as his belly fluttered a bit in response to Eren's complimentary words and he situated the finished garlic bread in a basket to take out to the table where Kenny had already set the plates of pasta before removing his apron. Then he took the garlic bread out as well and settled into his usual seat at the head of the table where he could see everyone else but didn't have to make eye contact if he didn't want to since he wasn't right across from any one person. Mika’s was on the left and Kenny’s on the right though his uncle had opted to take the next seat down so Eren could sit closer to Levi. It was a bit weird but he didn't complain because he wanted to sit closer to his boyfriend anyway like they had at Eren's apartment.

In the kitchen, Mikasa watched Levi make his exit and set the glasses of cranberry juice on the counter before she turned her silvery eyes back to Eren, supplying with smug helpfulness, “He likes it with two shots of chocolate syrup and make sure you stir it really well.”

“Got it,” Eren said with a nod, but made no move to prepare it, seeing a chance to talk to Mikasa alone. Rubbing the back of his head, Eren grimaced and looked to the side, having trouble finding the words to convince her not to hate him. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he finally looked her in the eye. “Look, I’ll be straight with you… I really need you to just… I don’t know… give me a chance I guess,” Eren said, looking at Mikasa with imploring eyes and upturned hands, “I know you are just trying to protect him, I get it, I do. I don’t want to come between you guys, I don’t want Levi to be fighting with you over me. _I_ don’t want to fight you either. I can tell he’s upset about it…” Eren sighed, running his hand through his hair once again as he glanced back to the dining room. “I fully expect you to kick my ass if I do fuck up, but until then, can’t we call a truce?” he asked, practically begging at this point, “I’ll even give you my phone number to text if Levi doesn’t respond to you, as a peace offering… My address and email too. Whatever you want…” 

Mikasa was quiet for a drawn moment when Eren stopped talking, watching him fidgeting and gauging his sincerity. She concluded he genuinely liked Levi, but he hadn't known him long enough yet to know what it would mean if they stayed together. “Fine, I'll give you one chance Eren Jaeger. If you hurt him, an asskicking is going to be the least of your troubles,” she finally replied, pulling her phone from her pocket, unlocking it and opening a new contact before she offered it to Eren expectantly.

“Oh thank fuck,” Eren visibly deflated in relief as he took her phone and typed in his information. “I don’t like when Levi’s pissed off… it’s scary…” Giving her back her phone, there was a touch of worry in his eyes once again as he said, “We all know I’m _going_ to fuck up at some point. I’m human and I can be an idiot as much as the next person. But I’ll try my best not too… It’s embarrassing to say, but I really fucking like him. I can’t believe he even agreed to go out with me to be honest…” 

“He has no clue what he's doing... that's what will hurt him. You can't really know when that will happen, it'll be how you react that matters. For some reason he's stubbornly decided he likes you too. No one but you could probably convince him otherwise at this point, so just keep that in mind when you're with him. And call me if something happens and you can't handle it,” Mikasa said with a sigh, feeling better for having voiced these things to the other young man. She’d not had the chance previously and Levi had been unreasonable.

Turning to squirt in the chocolate then stir Levi’s milk, Eren didn’t speak for a moment then said, “Well, he’s already leading me around by the nose… I’m pretty clueless myself but I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.” Eren gave Mikasa a helpless smile before he passed her a glass of cranberry and Kenny’s beer then grabbed his and Levi’s drink to bring out. 

“Mikasa told me how to make it… Hope it’s right…” Eren said, smiling down at Levi before he passed him his drink and sat down in the chair beside Kenny as Mikasa sat across from him. 

“Thanks,” Levi said, taking the glass and having a sip of it then another because it was perfect, maybe even better than usual. He bumped Eren's foot under the table with his own while Mikasa and Kenny were distracted by the food, and smiled though he didn't look at his boyfriend.

Eren’s smile turned into a grin as he bumped Levi’s foot back then served himself a giant helping of his boyfriend’s homemade cooking. Taking a giant bite of the steaming pasta dish, Eren almost melted into his chair on the spot. “Shit, this is good…” he moaned, looking like he was in bliss before his eyes darted to Kenny and he added a hurried, “Pardon my language.” 

Kenny only laughed and even Mikasa smiled; there was a reason Levi did most of the cooking at their house. Levi didn’t look up at any of them and pushed his sock clad toes up under Eren's pant leg idly as he blew on his first bite before putting it his mouth, remaining silent though his cheeks and ears felt warm again.

Eren slightly jolted in his seat and almost choked, not expecting the contact of Levi’s foot on his leg. It was almost… erotic, and _holy fuck_ , Eren could not pop a boner right now! Unfortunately, his dick refused to listen, especially when Levi’s foot idly moved up and down his leg throughout the duration of the dinner. 

Lucky for Eren, the four of them remained seated to talk throughout the meal and dessert after, giving him time to get used to the rubbing of his shin and calm down his over eager nether regions. No one seemed to notice the awkward and uncomfortable situation Eren was in, which he was grateful for. He was just feeling safe enough to offer to take their plates and help Levi rinse them off and put them into the dishwasher before Levi took him by the hand and led him upstairs and his arousal was reawakened once again. He knew that obviously nothing would happen when Levi mentioned he wanted to show Eren his room, but his penis was optimistic and pissing Eren off.

Mikasa and Kenny took care of tidying up the mess from dinner as per usual since Levi did the cooking in the first place and he tugged his boyfriend away from the kitchen and his family without a backward glance. He was both excited and anxious to show Eren his room. No one but Mikasa, Kenny and Lancelot had ever been in there. He didn’t like when people touched his things casually so he didn’t let just anyone come in. Eren would be the first since he’d started sharing it with his ferret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://s311.photobucket.com/user/XanderBradeshaw/media/SNK%20arts%20by%20me/spectrum%208-2_zpssnfy05zt.jpeg.html)   
> 
> 
>  
> 
> [](http://s311.photobucket.com/user/XanderBradeshaw/media/SNK%20arts%20by%20me/spectrum%208-3_zpss8yrt4ms.jpeg.html)  
> 


	9. Cream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's left such lovely comments on the last update. Hope this one is as well received! There's art at the end like usual. 
> 
> And happy Canada Day to all the Canadians like us out there celebrating Canada's birthday today! Enjoy~

They went up the stairs, passed Mikasa’s room and Kenny’s, the bathroom and his uncle’s office, all the way to the end of the hall where another narrow oak staircase ascended. Levi explained as he led his boyfriend, “My room is in the attic. It used to be where Kenny’s office is, but when I was twelve, uncle Kenny had the attic finished for me so we could put in a skylight and my music playing wouldn’t be bothersome to anyone. It’s awesome.”

The stairs made no sound as they climbed them into Levi’s large room and he flipped on the main light overhead. “What do you think?” he asked, glancing back curiously at his boyfriend as he stepped into the familiar and comfortable space.

The skylight was on the right side with Levi’s telescope and a beanbag chair set up beneath it, starcharts meticulously piled aside it. There was a desk against the far wall and a large bookshelf next to it with a selection of varied reading and his keyboard on a stand with music stuck to the corkboard posted on the wall behind it. And on the left side, his bedroom. 

His dressers sat along the wall closest the stairs and a large cat tree was situated next to them, Lancelot’s hammock fastened near the second story and his ridiculous collection of toys hidden within the tubes and hideaways of the construct. Said ferret poked his head out of his hammock when the couple came up the steps, but only yawned and curled back up lazily. There was a shelf next to that with more of Lancelot’s and Levi’s things. The head of Levi’s bed was against the far wall, a nightstand to either side of it, a lava lamp on one and a reading lamp on the other. It was queen-sized and clad in a dark purple bedspread and four pillows. And above it, hanging at different levels on clear threads from the glow-in-the-dark star strewn ceiling were all the cranes he’d received from Eren.

Eren’s eyes widened as he looked around and his jaw slowly fell open, any awkward boner he’d had instantly disappearing. “Wow… shit… This is amazing,” Eren said, head turning this way and that to take everything in. His heart swelled three times in his chest when he noticed that Levi had strung up all the origami Eren had given him. “Aww… you really kept them…” Eren said, taking a couple steps forward to point at the hanging cranes as he smiled back at Levi, “I think I should let you come decorate my apartment… you seem to be much better than I am at it…”

“I said I wanted them for a reason. I like them a lot,” Levi beamed, fidgeting as he came up behind Eren, proud that his boyfriend seemed to like his room, and continued the conversation,“Why would you want me to decorate it for you? You’re apartment is nice. It feels like you.”

“Maybe I want it to feel like you,” Eren said, giving Levi a crooked grin before he pulled his boyfriend into a hug. “Dinner was great… Thanks for inviting me…” 

“Maybe we can just share it then. And you’re welcome. I was excited and couldn’t sleep last night after I texted you,” Levi said offhandedly, returning the hug tightly, “So I just wrote some music instead of sleeping since I couldn’t. Do you want to hear it?”

“Hell yes,” Eren said firmly, giving Levi another tight squeeze around the middle and a kiss on top of his head before he reluctantly let his boyfriend go, “Show me…” 

“‘Kay,” Levi ducked his head and sucked his bottom lip between his teeth in an almost shy gesture and turned towards his keyboard. “You can sit wherever, I guess,” he offered, unused to playing host in his own space and even more unused to the odd stirring of nerves in his gut. The melody he’d written was about Eren, about how Levi felt around him, though it was unfinished; it didn’t usually matter, but he would be disappointed if Eren didn’t like it and hoped he would. 

He turned the keyboard on and set it on piano, glancing up at the hand-written chords posted ahead of him before he closed his eyes and set his fingers to the keys and the music came then.

Eren flopped on Levi’s bed watching his boyfriend curiously with a small smile on his face as Levi got ready to play. When the first notes echoed through the room, Eren didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t this. 

The music was bright and melodic, conjuring up images of sunshine and rainbows. Eren didn’t know if he had ever heard such lovely music before and was completely entranced until it abruptly stopped, forcing Eren to open his eyes when he didn’t even remember closing them to begin with. “Why’d you stop! That’s amazing! Probably the best music I’ve ever heard! I wanna hear more!” Eren said, leaning towards Levi, eager for more. 

“I don't know how this one ends yet,” Levi told him, feeling heat on his nape and not looking at Eren; he could feel Eren looking at him even from across the room, “I can play you something else though if you want.”

“I want, I want, I want! I want to hear everything you have. And I want a digital copy to put on a playlist to listen to wherever I go,” Eren said, bouncing where he sat on the bed, “You’re too amazing, it’s not fair!”

“Depends on your definition of amazing. I don’t think I’m any more amazing than you,” Levi said, feeling too warm and fidgeting in his seat. Eren was on his bed and he was looking at him like that and Levi wasn’t really sure what to make of that. He wondered if his bed would smell like Eren after and he thought that might not be so bad at all. “I can’t play you _everything_ tonight; it would take hours, but I can make you a playlist. How about I play you the very first one I wrote?” he said abruptly, stretching his fingers and cracking his knuckles unconsciously and glancing at his boyfriend from his peripheral. 

“I could listen to you for hours…” Eren said wistfully, then sighed like he was suffering deeply. “Fine… I won’t make you play everything for me tonight… But I want that playlist and I _do_ wanna hear everything live at some point. So I’ll just have to come over often and listen to you play!” he said, thinking he was compromising as he clapped his hands together in excitement. 

“Okay,” Levi murmured agreeably and set his fingers back on the keys, closing his eyes as he began to play the chords from memory, his head tilting a little as a smile ghosted over his lips. He loved this one. It was about his mother. He could almost smell the lavender in her hair again; it was such a nice memory.

Eren leaned back on his palms as his head tilted back with eyes closed. God this was beautiful. He was starting to sway side to side along with the melody, picturing the colour purple for some reason then the image morphed into a flower garden; a purple flower garden. All too soon the music stopped but the melody was still echoing in his ears and Eren flopped back into the bed with a sigh. “Ah, that’s some good shit,” Eren said, feeling relaxed with a content smile as he sprawled out over Levi’s bed. 

Levi was quiet, watching Eren for long seconds after he’d stopped playing, his fingers tingling pleasantly, and he was quiet when he got up and moved towards him. “I composed it when I was ten. It’s called Lavender. Did you like it?” Levi said, crouched down right next to where Eren was sprawled on his bedspread and staring intently at his boyfriend’s expression.

Tilting his head up and cracking an eye open, Eren beamed down at Levi. “Lavender… I saw purple flowers! That’s perfect! Wow. I didn’t know music could like, make you see something without having any words,” Eren tried to explain, demonstrating how unversed he was in the art of music. He didn’t know how to play any instruments, and he couldn’t sing; Eren was more interested in playing sports when he was younger so he was completely unenthusiastic about learning anything about the art. He wished he knew more to have an intellectual conversation with Levi. 

Levi blinked, met and held Eren's eyes for a long moment, longer than usual, and smiled a little. “Music can take you places,” he said, dropping his gaze and shifting to crawl into his bed with Eren, climbing over him to his preferred left side, continuing to talk idly as he made himself comfortable, “I play that one when I want to visit my mother.” 

Eren was instantly hyper aware about Levi’s presence beside him. On a bed. Right next to Eren. For fuck sakes it was like he was fourteen holding his first hand all over again. His palms were instantly sweaty and his heart rate elevated and this was not the fucking time. At least he managed to focus on Levi’s words and the subtext behind them instead of his reawakening arousal. “You can’t… visit her in person?” Eren said, awkwardness in his tone as he moved around to reposition himself facing Levi on the bed. He knew he was fucking this conversation royally, but he wanted to know more about Levi. 

Levi shook his head and watched Eren's expressions changing curiously, uncertain as to what was causing the shifts. “Not anymore. She died when I was six in an accident with my aunt, Mika’s mom,” he explained plainly; it had happened a very long time ago.

“I’m… shit that sucks… I’m sorry that happened, Levi,” Eren said, reaching up to brush the errant strands of Levi’s hair off of his forehead only for it to fall back in place a moment later. “I’m very close with my mom… You’ll have to meet her some time…” he added absently, beginning to stroke the top of Levi’s head, trying to soothe the past away. 

“Too soft,” Levi wrinkled his nose, reaching up to curl Eren's fingers in his hair instead, squeezing so that the strands were pulled some before releasing the grip and glancing at Eren. “Anyways, you don't have to apologize, it's not your fault. It was… a struggle back then, but it's okay now,” he continued on the previous conversation as if there’d been no disruption and scooted closer to his boyfriend to press his body along Eren's, unconsciously seeking more contact, “I'd like to meet your mom sometime. Do you look like her?”

Eren’s brain short circuited a moment, too busy focusing on Levi’s body flush against his own, but he managed to spit out, “I um… yeah… I do… Spitting image… Except the eyes. Hers are brown…” He could feel his pants getting tighter, and he immediately inched away, hoping Levi didn’t feel. 

“She must be pretty,” Levi smiled a little, wiggling closer when Eren had inched away, completely failing to realize just why his boyfriend was attempting to purposely create some space between them; he just really liked being close to Eren. 

His brow furrowed a moment later in confusion and he shifted uncomfortably against the prodding hardness; it didn’t feel like Eren's phone. He pressed his thigh against it and jerked back when Eren made a strange sort of strangled hissing sound. Levi's eyes immediately dropped to where his leg had been pressed seconds before, worried he’d somehow injured his boyfriend only to discover exactly what had been poking him. He blinked and blinked again, “You have an erection.” Was Eren aroused? Was it because of him? Did that mean… “Do you want to have sex?” he asked abruptly, still staring at Eren's crotch with curious fascination. Not that he was offering; he was nowhere near done with his research yet though he’d read through most of the material on the sites Erwin had given him. He just wanted to be sure that's what this particular erection meant and wasn't because Eren had to urinate or something.

Curling up in an attempt to hide it and his face, Eren spluttered, “It’s-... I um… Well yeah I do, with you… not now of course but… I don’t know… the thing has a mind of its own and you are super attractive and I… I’m sorry… it’ll go down soon… sorry.” Another strangled whine escaped Eren as he tightened further into a ball, hoping that he would just shrink into nothing to escape his embarrassment. 

“Okay, but why are you sorry? Isn’t it a good thing if your partner thinks you’re attractive enough to be arousing?” Levi questioned, leaning forward on his hands and knees to try and peer at his boyfriend, though Eren was making it really difficult to see his face at the moment. Levi was having a hard time figuring out what was going on because he couldn’t properly gauge Eren’s expression. “I’m not mad about it or anything,” he assured, uncertain if maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. He hadn’t meant to upset or embarrass his boyfriend.

Eren was still for a moment before he moved his arms to reveal his bright red face. “I just… didn’t want to freak you out… I’m glad you aren’t upset about it…” Eren said sheepishly, then bit his lip and released it. “It is embarrassing… But whenever you are close, it’s hard to control myself… I haven’t really been intimate with anyone for a long time…” 

Levi sat back on his feet and settled his hands in his lap, watching Eren and listening. “Is it more difficult because it’s been a long time?” he clarified, curious. He wouldn’t know since he’d never been intimate with anyone like that. He had a weird feeling in his belly, like the fluttering, but also warm and sort of tight and he thought maybe it wasn’t a bad feeling either. He kind of wanted to touch Eren again, but he didn’t want to make things more awkward for his boyfriend.

“It’s part of it,” Eren said, beginning to uncurl himself, “But it’s more that it’s you… And you are very attractive… And I like you a lot… So… yeah, of course I want you…” Eren was looking up at Levi through his lashes, but then reached for Levi’s hand to grip tightly. “It’s okay though… No matter how much I do want you, I want to take it slow like we agreed. I’m embarrassed because a grown ass man should be able to control it…” 

Levi’s brows scrunched, looking down where Eren’s fingers had found his own and he rubbed at his belly with his other hand. “I don’t really understand. Isn’t it a natural response? Wouldn’t it be weird to have control over something like that? It happens to me sometimes in the morning, especially if I have to pee. I’ve been doing some research about this kind of thing and even if it’s embarrassing, I don’t think you need to worry so much about it. It’s not like I really mind,” he said, curling his fingers between Eren’s and giving them a squeeze. “I read an article about masturbation yesterday. They called it self-relief. The next time it happens to me, I’m going to try it so, if you need to do that, it’s fine, the bathroom is just downstairs. I don’t mind waiting either,” he finished, eyes finally flitting back to his boyfriend’s face and settling on his mouth as he fidgeted a bit on his knees.

Eren’s eyes widened then he shook his head furiously as he blurted, “No! No, I’m fine, really it’s fine, I’m good, don’t have to you know… I’m fine!” What he didn’t say was the thought of Levi masturbating just fanned the flames of his arousal, to the point that he had to roll over and plant his hips into the mattress, hoping to squish the arousal out of him. “What kind of… What kind of stuff have you been reading about then,” Eren said, turning his head slightly from the bed to look in Levi’s general direction. 

“Lots of things really. I didn’t know there were so many ways to have sex and be intimate. And that you have to have a lot of things available like lubricant and condoms and tissues and there’s all kinds of other things suggested too. It’s a lot, but it’s not really that complicated from what I understand. It’s not even supposed to hurt if you prepare properly. I’ve already made some online orders. I don’t want to be ill-prepared and a lot of the articles said it’s best to experiment with some products before using them for any intimacy to see which you prefer,” Levi replied, happy enough for the conversation since Erwin had said he and Eren should talk about these things together. He finally moved from his knees to seat himself back on the bed, opting to prop himself back against Eren comfortably and planted his feet on the mattress with his knees bent and spread apart lazily, palms settling on them and his fingers tapped unconsciously as he talked. He’d really learned quite a lot, but there hadn’t been as many pictures as he’d have liked so he still wanted to research it further; come to think of it, there could even be videos that might be even more informative. He’d have to use a search engine.

Planting his face back in the bed, Eren groaned pitifully like he was in pain. He _was_ in pain. Levi was going to give him the worst case of blueballs he’d ever felt before. “What… did you order?” Eren asked haltingly. He should’ve kept his mouth shut, but the curiosity was killing him. Eren had to know now that Levi had brought it up. 

Levi tilted his head, looking up at the cranes overhead as he recalled what purchases he’d recently made, “Mm mostly lubricants and condoms; there are really a lot to choose from, even flavoured kinds. There are a few other things I plan to look at too. Some of the articles suggested experimenting with _toys_ though I didn't get too far into exploring that yet. Do you have any suggestions or preferences I should consider while I'm researching?” He glanced back at Eren sidelong, genuinely interested, as he shifted a bit against him, slouching down a little further.

“It depends…” Eren mumbled, curling his arms over the back of his head to hide, “On… well… what kind of orgasm you want to have… I um… have quite the collection… if you wanna see…”

“Oh, I get it. I wouldn't mind seeing next time I come over. I saw pictures of a few online, but it's kind of hard to imagine the textures and stuff. Do you have a lot of different kinds? I saw one that apparently vibrates; it even required batteries,” Levi replied, completely ignorant of his boyfriend's uncomfortable predicament, asking purely for the purpose of gathering imperative information. It was kind of good that Eren knew about these things since Levi really didn't; there was so much to learn about it all, not to mention applying any of it. He wasn't sure if he’d even like any of it, but he definitely wanted to find out when the time came.

“Yeah I do… you can take a look next time… anyway… I um… Well… So…” Eren mumbled, trying to change the topic but having a difficult time, “I won’t have a lot of free time next week because of practise for the game… We probably will only see each other at class and then after the game...” 

“I could come to watch you practice if you want, when is it?” Levi answered, shifting topics easily and looking over at his boyfriend; Eren had said before he could come watch sometimes, so why not? It would be interesting to see Eren doing something he liked. He thought maybe Lacrosse was for him kind of like what music was for Levi. He didn’t know much about the game, but he had no doubt Eren was good at it.

Perking up immediately, Eren lifted his head once again, his cheeks still flushed from their earlier conversation. “Yeah? You really wanna watch?” he asked, clearly excited by the fact. 

Levi nodded, “I really want to, though I don’t know anything about Lacrosse. I’ll look it up before I come, so when?” he assured, repeating his question insistently. After all, he also had a lot to do during the next week, but he definitely wanted to see Eren too, as much as possible really. “I’ll text you and call too when we can’t see each other,” he added; Eren always wanted him too anyways.

Eren was practically vibrating with excitement before he rolled to the side and out from underneath Levi. He held his arms out to his boyfriend and said, “C’mere… I wanna cuddle…” 

Levi barely caught himself when Eren rolled away from him, abruptly removing his support where Levi had been leaning. He might have complained about it, but when Eren looked at him with open arms, he simply let himself fall back into them. And completely forgot to mind the minor inconvenience. Shifting around until he’d made himself comfortable again, he rubbed his cheek against Eren’s chest with a smile and an appreciative hum. “M’tired… Will you be upset if I fall asleep?” he murmured, eyes closed as he snuggled into his boyfriend comfortably, wrapping an arm around his waist firmly. It was kind of like hugging a pillow only better because it was Eren and he could hear his heartbeat and smell him and he was warm and the restriction of his embrace was nice and… He sighed as he dozed off, before he’d even heard his boyfriend’s answer.

Eren nuzzled into Levi’s hair, feeling his boyfriend relax and slowly drift off into sleep. “I like you so much… Fuck… I’m probably falling in love with you,” Eren whispered then planted a kiss on the crown of Levi’s head. He stayed holding on even when he drifted off to sleep himself with Levi pressed to his chest. 

It was perhaps an hour or two later when Kenny came up the stairs, peering into Levi’s oddly silent room cautiously, smiling when he found the two young men. He crossed his arms over his chest and just watched over them for a handful of minutes, unused to the sight of his nephew so relaxed with someone other than family and he was proud of him. Eren seemed like a good kid. 

He stepped forward and reached out to set his hand on Eren’s shoulder, hoping to wake him without waking Levi. He knew his nephew hadn’t been sleeping and he’d been contemplating requesting sleeping medication from Erwin again. Insomnia wasn’t uncommon in individuals with ASD and Levi had been prescribed sleep aids a number of times over the years because of it, though as he’d gotten older, it had gotten marginally better and Kenny had thought it would be best to give him a break from the medication. He really hadn’t wanted to put him back on it; Levi didn’t like taking it, said he couldn’t dream when he did. And quite honestly, Kenny would rather Levi sleep four hours on his own than eight dreamless ones that had him waking depressed in the morning. Seeing him sleeping so soundly cuddled against his boyfriend, Kenny decided Eren was definitely good for Levi. “Hey kid, wake up, I’ll give you a ride home,” he said quietly as he shook Eren’s shoulder gently.

Eren looked up dazed, eyes foggy as he tried to focus on the man hovering above him. He blinked and blinked again, turning his head to rub the drool off of his face. “Sorry… we fell asleep,” he managed to say groggily, “Thanks…” Slowly, trying not to wake Levi, he tried to maneuver his arms out from underneath his boyfriend but Levi stirred anyway. 

Levi frowned and furrowed his brow as he was jostled though his eyes remained stubbornly closed and he huffed in complaint as he rolled over and cuddled into the warmed pillows that smelled of Eren. Kenny chuckled, waving off Eren's groggy apology and gratitude. “Demanding even in his sleep,” he commented fondly as Eren got up, looking sleepy-eyed and a bit rumpled and he turned his attention back to him, “It's a few minutes past eleven. Figured you could probably use a ride home.”

“That’s really thoughtful of you… appreciate it,” Eren said with a nod, finally starting to wake up. He snuck a glance to the side down at a sleeping Levi, then back at Kenny like he was trying to make a decision. Finally he moved, swooping down to press a kiss on Levi’s forehead, then got up off the bed, obviously embarrassed in front of Kenny but he didn’t want to leave without some form of goodbye. 

Kenny looked away, turning to make his way back downstairs, not wanting to intrude on the moment when Eren leaned in to wish his sleeping nephew goodnight before the brunette followed after him. He stopped in the kitchen to retrieve a tupperware of leftovers Levi had designated to be for his boyfriend and smiled as he handed the container over to the younger man, “Levi wanted to make sure you’d have something other than junk food to eat, his words, not mine.” 

Eren took the tupperware carefully from Kenny, staring down at it like he was holding pure gold. “He thinks of everything… he said he was going to teach me how to cook,” Eren said absently, a dopey smile on his face when he finally looked up at Kenny. 

“He'll be happy to do it, no doubt; he's pretty fond of you,” the lanky older man’s grin broadened, and he gestured for Eren to precede him down the hall to the front door, passing Mikasa reading in the front room along their way. She watched them and waved as they left.

***

Mikasa waited only as long as it took for the rumble of her father’s car pulling out of their driveway to be heard before she set her book aside and made her way upstairs. It was time she made amends with her cousin; now that she and Eren had come to an understanding, there was no reason for her to allow the distance to remain between the two of them.

Levi was asleep, much to her confusion. She’d assumed he’d be awake and either playing music or researching whatever he’d been after for the last few days. She sat on the edge of his bed and reached over to run her fingertip along the bridge of his nose and between his brows too lightly for his liking and she smiled when his nose wrinkled and he immediately stirred.

“What do you want Mika? I was sleeping,” he grumbled, cracking his eyes open to glare up at her. 

She chuckled and shook her head; she’d really missed him these last few days. “I need to talk to you,” she replied quietly, pulling her legs up onto the bed and crossing them as he shifted to sit up as well.

Levi looked around his room curiously, “Where’s Eren?”

“Dad took him home a couple of minutes ago. I guess they didn’t want to wake you. You know how dad gets when you haven’t been sleeping,” she said, looking at him as he mirrored her.

“I know,” Levi agreed, picking at the wrinkles in the legs of his jeans idly and not looking at her.

“So…” she trailed, debating how best to approach this conversation, not wanting to lecture him or push him further away.

“So?” Levi parroted, glancing at her through his lashes a moment before his eyes dropped to his hands again.

“How are things going with Eren? You two seem to be really… getting along,” she tried.

Levi finally looked up at her properly, gauging her sincerity and intentions with suspicious scrutiny for a long second before he replied, “We are. It’s been really good so far. He kissed my neck and he wants to have sex with me. He even got an erection.”

Mikasa’s eyes went wide and she opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She swallowed and tried again, voice wavering only a little, “Is that so?”

“Relax Mika, it’s not like I gave him a blowjob or something. We haven’t even kissed properly yet.”

“Where did you learn that word?” she questioned with raised brows, relieved and a bit startled. She was used to his blunt nature, but it had never been about this stuff before at least not in reference to himself.

“Research,” he answered simply, a little half-grin tugging at his mouth. “I have to know about sex if I’m going to participate in it. Actually, it might be a while until then anyway. A lot of articles I read mentioned that the experience is generally better with a partner you love… And I don’t know how to fall in love with Eren yet so…”

“Who’s to say you aren’t already doing it?” she interjected. He obviously hadn’t realized the things he’d been doing, the trust he’d already placed in Eren.

He sucked on his bottom lip for a few seconds before he countered, “Are you saying you’d be okay with me falling in love and having sex with him now?”

Mikasa snorted softly, and admitted, “Not really, but it’s not up to me, is it? I don’t think it matters who you fall for, I’ll always worry about you. As long as Eren treats you well and makes you happy, I’ll learn to live with it. It’s too hard not talking to you.”

Levi's smile broadened, “Good, ‘cause I could really use your help. I want to kiss Eren…”

“Okay,” Mikasa said, quiet for a minute after as she considered before she leaned forward, “I have an idea…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](http://s311.photobucket.com/user/XanderBradeshaw/media/SNK%20arts%20by%20me/spectrum%209_zps3tbl96cr.jpeg.html)


	10. Chartreuse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess whose back? Back again?  
> Teapot's back, tell a friend.  
> Guess whose back, guess whose back, guess whose back, guess whose back guess whose back... NA NA NA NAAAAAA.   
> NOW this looks like a job for me... So everybody just follow me... 'Cause we need a little controversy
> 
> Cause it feels so empty without me... ;)

“Levi, you got packages,” Mikasa called from the hallway as she made her way towards the kitchen with the mail and the parcels that had come addressed to her cousin. She set them on the island as she flipped through the rest idly while Levi came down the stairs.

She looked up when he came in and gestured to the packages before she began flipping through the soccer magazine she subscribed to, leaning back against the counter. Levi nodded and reached for them as he took a seat on one of the stools. She didn't pay much attention to him as he opened them up meticulously, pulling out each item and setting them on the island top until all the boxes were emptied. He hummed thoughtfully as he picked up one of the items that had come with the orders though he hadn't ordered it. It was apparently complementary with the particular brand of lubricant and condoms. 

He lifted the bright purple, smooth, pill-shaped plastic object to inspect further, noticing a small rubber button on one end. “What's this for?” he questioned aloud, pressing the button with a curious fingertip. “Oh!” he dropped it onto the counter with a clatter as it began vibrating intensely in his hand and continued to buzz across the island as Levi blinked down at it in fascinated curiosity. It was so small compared to the ones he’d been seeing online… maybe it was a tester or something?

“Levi!” Mika exclaimed, having looked up from the article she'd been reading to see what the commotion was all about.

He didn't even look up at her, still watching the mini vibrator as it skittered over the island's surface and bumped into a box of condoms. “Isn't it too small? How do you keep ahold of it?” he asked in answer, ignoring the tone in his cousin's voice entirely.

“That's… you don't… Jesus Christ Levi, why do you even have that stuff?” Mikasa sputtered, turning a rather vibrant shade of cherry and slapping a hand to her forehead to shade her eyes.

“Why not? It's part of my research. How will I know if I don't experiment?” he answered idly, reaching to pick up the device again, turning it off then back on with interest, “It's pretty powerful even though it's so small.”

Mikasa made a face, “Can't you do it in your room?”

Levi shrugged noncommittally and continued his examination, picking up the packaging to read while he fisted the “minivibe” in his other hand.

His cousin groaned and shook her head, realizing it was a lost cause and opting to pass this particular responsibility onto a more adultier adult. “Dad, Levi's playing with sex toys in the kitchen,” she tattled loudly as she tucked her magazine under an armpit and crossed her arms over her chest.

Kenny came up the stairs from the basement moments later, wiping his hands on a rag, “What are you hollering about now? I thought you kids made up…” His voice trailed off as he took in the scene, brows rising towards his hairline. He traded a look with his daughter and sighed as he rubbed his forehead and stepped towards his nephew.

“Levi,” he began, awkwardly setting a hand on his nephew's shoulder to call his attention, continuing when Levi half turned to acknowledge the older male, “D’you remember when we talked about privacy?” 

“Mhmm, I remember,” Levi answered with a nod.

“Okay, good, well this is one of those things you should do privately in your bedroom, especially if you plan to uh… _test_ any of it out,” Kenny advised; he had a feeling that this was only the beginning of a rather awkward and comical period with his nephew. And he’d thought the kissing conversation had been embarrassing...

“Gross dad,” Mika commented, pulling another face.

He shot her a look, before he turned his attention back to Levi, “Nevermind her. It's perfectly… natural to be curious and explore…” He paused, unsure what else to say as his nephew considered the items and processed what he’d been told. “That being said, don't you have to go to Eren's practice soon?” Kenny changed the topic smoothly.

Levi looked at the time on the stove clock and jumped up from his seat. He'd gotten so distracted, he’d almost forgotten. “Shit! Yes! Can you drive me?” he requested as he quickly packed up all the items in one of the boxes. He didn't want to be late.

Kenny nodded, relieved, and let out another sigh as Levi swiftly took the box up to his room. Mikasa only shook her head, though she didn't manage to do a very good job hiding her amusement as she made to leave as well, passing Levi on his way back down with his messenger bag and Lancelot in tow. 

He quickly packed up the wraps he’d prepared earlier in the morning, two crispy chicken and bacon wraps for Eren and a veggie and cheese for himself. Eren had said he was usually starving after practice so he’d thought it might be a good idea to bring his boyfriend something for afterwards. He already had the pompoms he’d made the night before in his bag. Even though it wasn't a game, from what he’d read online about these sorts of things, it was good to show your support even at practices. He didn't think Eren would mind. 

He settled his bag across his chest and clipped Lancelot’s lead on before he looked at his uncle expectantly, as if Kenny hadn't been waiting solely for him to be ready to leave, “Well, are we going or what?” Kenny only chuckled and shook his head before leading the way out of the house.

It didn't take long to get to the campus field and Levi spent the time explaining Lacrosse to his uncle until they’d arrived. He bid him farewell and said he’d text if he needed a ride later then shut the door behind him. Kenny watched as, without a backward glance and with Lancelot at his side, Levi made his way towards the thus far sparsely occupied bleachers. Kenny half smiled to himself before he pulled out of the parking lot again.

***

Jean, the vice captain, had his arm lazily slung across Eren’s shoulders as they walked onto the field in full practice gear. Eren knew from experience that trying to shove him off would only result in another fist fight and he didn’t feel like getting benched before one of the biggest games of the season.

“So when are you gonna introduce us to your new sweetheart Jaeger?” Jean wheedled, leaning way too much of his weight onto Eren. 

“I dunno… When will you stop being an asshole?” Eren rebutted, still smiling. He was used to their playful banter by now. 

“Shut up! You won't be able to hide him from the team or the frat forever…” Jean warned before he shoved Eren hard. Not all the players on the team were part of Eren and Jean’s fraternity, but there were a fair number so normally when they spoke of one, they also meant the other. 

Eren just rolled his eyes and fixed his jersey under his shoulder pads. “We’ve only _just_ started dating… I don’t need you guys scaring him off by being the jackasses you are…” Eren’s voice trailed off as he immediately stopped talking, eyes scanning the stands. 

“If your face hasn’t managed to scare him off then I don’t think there is much we can do,” Jean said, continuing to walk until he noticed Eren had fallen behind, “What’s up with you?” Jean asked before Eren ran passed him to the wall that separated the stands from the field. 

“You came!” Eren yelled out to Levi, face flushed and eyes shining as he grinned and waved to his boyfriend in the stands, “And you wore my jacket!” 

Levi perked up upon hearing Eren's voice, face brightening with now familiar delight as he waved back with one pompom filled hand, leaning forward some in his seat as if he could somehow be closer to his boyfriend that way. “I said I would,” he called back, smiling, “I could have been late, but uncle Kenny drove me here.” He fidgeted a bit on the hard bleacher, feeling oddly invigorated and excited to see what Eren's practice would entail, ignoring the other onlookers in the stands further away from him and only sparing brief glances at the other members of the team. He was really only interested in watching Eren. 

Placing his palms on top of the wall, Eren vaulted over the barrier then ran up the bleachers, taking the steps two at a time. He didn’t really think of what to say when he got there though, breathing hard as he looked down on his seated boyfriend still smiling. “Hi,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, helmet dangling from his other hand where he held it by the strap, “I um… am glad you could make it…” 

Levi ducked his head as heat filled his cheeks, ears and the back of his neck; maybe just a little flattered that his boyfriend was as excited to see him as he was to see Eren. “Me too,” he agreed, looking up through his lashes at Eren, “I even brought Lancelot along to show his support too,” he gestured to the vest clad ferret perched atop his messenger bag and happily wrestling with the sparkly pompoms Levi had attached to the clasp of his lead. “Oh! I brought dinner too for after,” he finished, shifting restlessly as he looked his boyfriend over. He kind of liked the way Eren looked in all his gear even if it was just for practice at the moment. And he was glad that Eren had come up to see him before he got started.

Eren grinned, just about to thank Levi when there was a sudden noise from the field. 

“Look, Jaeger brought his boyyyfriendd,” Jean called up as a group of players stood on the other side of the barrier and leered up at the two. Eren immediately bristled, flipping them all off as they roared in laughter at his embarrassment and made kissing noises at the couple. 

“I am so sorry,” Eren whined, messing up his hair further, “They are all idiots.” 

Levi cocked his head and attempted to peer around his boyfriend, standing up to better see and inherently stepping further into Eren’s space. “That seems like a them problem,” he replied idly, not really concerned or embarrassed by the taunting jeers and wolf whistles from Eren's teammates. It seemed like it was all in fun anyways, probably, since they were Eren's friends too. 

He looked back up at Eren again, eyes widening vaguely as he realized just how much closer he was to the taller man. He sucked on his bottom lip for a minute before he murmured almost shyly, “Shouldn't you be getting back down there?” though he reached out to set his hands on Eren's shoulders, pompoms in tow and framing his boyfriend's face pleasantly.

“Nah…” Eren said, dazed by the proximity of Levi and now completely ignoring the idiocy of his teammates. But the big blue and white things attached to Levi’s hands were hard to miss. “Are those… are those pompoms?” he blurted, although he already knew the answer. Eren was just incredulous that Levi had actually _brought_ some. Of course he did ask Levi to cheer him on, and the thought of Levi being his own cheerleader was satisfying until the thought of the smaller man in a cheerleading uniform was enough to make him blush even redder. 

“They are. I made them last night. Lancelot kept stealing the pieces I'd cut up and nesting with them in his hammock,” Levi answered, watching Eren's face colour with interest. He didn't seem embarrassed… 

Levi almost asked him what he was thinking about, but the sharp trill of a whistle and several shouts from Eren's teammates interrupted and reminded him they weren't alone. Abruptly, he raised up on his toes to plant a kiss on Eren's cheek, “For luck, even if I doubt you need it just for practice.” Then he gave him a second one and smiled a little, “And a bonus just because I want to.”

Eren lingered for a moment, slightly leaning in as his eyes fluttered closed before his coach yelled, “Jaeger! Ass on the field!” 

“Okay alright, Jesus!” Eren yelled back, throwing his hands up in the air before he swooped down to press firm kisses all over Levi’s face. One on his forehead, four on both cheeks, then one on his nose before he grinned widely and said, “Even though it’s just practise, I’m gonna score soooo many goals for you!” He turned away and sprinted down the stairs and jumped over the fence. 

Eren kept his promise too, scoring many goals in the scrimmage at the end of the practise, pointing up to Levi every time he did. And when practise was over, he sprinted to the change room, quickly taking a shower to wash off the sweat before he dashed back to where Levi was sitting. 

Levi spent the practice feeling warmer than he had before Eren had kissed his whole face, and he watched his boyfriend avidly as he moved around the field. He sometimes had to stand up to better see and he beamed and waved the pompoms every time Eren scored and looked his way. Watching Eren practice was a lot more fun than he’d expected and his boyfriend was every bit as good at the sport as he’d thought he would be.

He told Eren as much when the other young man finally returned from changing with damp hair and a wide grin. “It was fun watching you. You're really good at lacrosse. I bet your game will be even more exciting this weekend,” he said in greeting, face flushed and eyes bright with elated interest. And if Eren won the game, well that would be even better, especially because he planned to surprise Eren after it was over. “Are you hungry now? I made two chicken bacon ranch wraps for you and I brought some water too,” he continued, looking away from Eren to his bag, shooing Lancelot off of it only for the ferret to make himself comfortable on top of the pompoms Levi had set aside on the bench next to his bag.

“You are an angel! Best boyfriend ever!” Eren said as he flopped down next to Levi and then wrapped an arm around his boyfriend’s waist to drag him closer to Eren on the bench. He couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward to bury his head in Levi’s neck, kissing the skin firmly. Eren was almost giddy from Levi coming to watch him. 

Levi let Eren pull him closer, squirming as Eren's lips pressed against his neck and that same weird warm tightness curled in his belly again, but he didn't pull away. It wasn't bad, still weird but he was getting more curious about it. It only ever happened with Eren. 

“Am I?” he asked with a little half smile, pleased and proud; it seemed he was really starting to get the hang of this relationship business and it wasn't even that hard. He leaned against Eren and pulled out the wrapped wraps, offering Eren his idly.

“Mmm, yes. Super sweet… And super hot,” Eren said, giving Levi’s neck a nibble and a nuzzle before he pulled back to take his food. “I’m pretty sure all my teammates were dying of jealousy!” Eren bragged, unwrapping his wrap to take a giant bite. He chewed and swallowed in haste to add, “None of their significant others have ever showed up with pompoms to cheer them on during practise. I was pumped. Did you see all the goals I got? I think I got a practise record. Coach was super pleased and said you should come to more practises to get me riled up!” 

Levi reached up to touch where he’d felt Eren's teeth on his neck unconsciously and shivered, watching Eren sidelong as his boyfriend took his first bite of food then continued to talk, listening but intently staring at Eren's mouth; he wondered what his skin had tasted like to his boyfriend. “Can I?” he asked in response, elaborating after a second, “Come to more of your practises, I mean.” His face, neck and ears felt even warmer after Eren's comments and that weird tightness was lingering a lot longer than last time.

Eren paused before he took another massive bite of his wrap to look over at Levi with a big smile. “You can come to as many as you’d like! I’d love to have you,” he said, squeezing Levi with the arm still wrapped around his waist. “But I don’t expect you to all the time though, I’m sure it gets boring,” Eren added, not wanting Levi to feel obligated, “Just come whenever you want to. It’ll always make me happy…”

Levi nodded his head, chewing his own bite before he answered, “It's not boring at all. I like watching you.” He took another bite and glanced up at Eren as he leaned into him further.

“I’m glad,” Eren said with an affectionate smile, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of Levi’s head before he continued to eat, finishing off the first wrap then plowing through the second. 

Levi took his time eating, resting comfortably against his boyfriend and watching the rest of the team and onlookers milling around and leaving the campus idly. He finished by the time Eren was finishing off his second wrap and smiled at him, pleased that he had made enough for him. “Do you have anything else you have to do now?” he asked, shifting a bit to better be able to look at the taller male. 

“Uh…” Eren thought to himself for a moment. His homework was all done; he was just planning to binge watch Netflix this evening. “Nah I’m free…” he said, looking down at Levi, “Wanna do something?” 

“Yes,” Levi affirmed brightly, though he didn't know what they would be doing. Maybe they would just go to Eren’s apartment; it didn’t really matter since he wouldn't mind so long as he was going to be spending some more time with his boyfriend.

Eren couldn’t help but giggle at Levi’s enthusiastic response. “What would you like to do, love?” Eren asked, turning towards Levi to give him his full attention. 

Levi hummed thoughtfully, idly fingering Lancelot’s leash as he considered what he wanted to do exactly. There were a lot of things really, but Eren hadn’t meant it as a general statement. “I want ice cream and I want to cuddle,” he finally decided, unable to decide which he wanted first; ideally they could do both at the same. 

Eren grinned and said, “Sounds like a plan… I have ice cream at home or we could find a stand somewhere…” He grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder then started to clean up the mess he’d made, passing Levi’s Tupperware back to his boyfriend. 

Nodding, Levi packed away the containers and his pompoms and stood up to slip his bag on over his shoulder before he picked Lancelot up so they could make their way down from the bleachers.. “What kind of ice cream do you have?” he asked; the decision whether or not to head straight to Eren’s apartment depending solely on the flavour because he only liked certain ones.

“Mmm, I think I have vanilla and maple walnut,” Eren said, slipping his hand into Levi’s firmly as he led him down the bleachers. 

Levi's nose wrinkled in vague distaste; it wasn't that he disliked either flavour, he just really didn't want either of them at the moment. “We'll have to stop for some. I want the cherry and chocolate kind,” he said, watching Eren's feet moving ahead of his own as they walked, letting himself be led easily as he held Lancelot with his other hand, putting him down once they’d cleared the stands. “Do you like that kind? I like a lot of different ones, but the one I couldn't do without is chocolate. It’s my favourite. What's your favourite?”

Eren smiled affectionately at Levi when he scrunched his nose. _So cute_ , Eren thought, beginning to swing their hands as they left the field. “My favourite ice cream is cotton candy…” Eren said, “Or like a scoop of bubblegum with a scoop of cotton candy. That’s the best. There’s this ice cream stand close to my apartment which is where we are gonna go. That’s what I always get,” Eren said, leading the way to the bus stop. 

“I don’t think I’ve tried those kinds. I don’t like bubblegum. It’s too sticky,” Levi replied, fingers flexing between Eren’s, smiling contentedly and glancing at his boyfriend sidelong every other step. “I’ve had cotton candy before. We always get some when uncle Kenny takes us to the fair. But it’s weird to imagine it as ice cream,” he continued, chatting amiably and enjoying every second he spent in Eren’s company. Comfortable, familiar, and pleasant like always. Consistent and secure. 

“It’s sweet and colorful and I usually manage to get it all over my face no matter how hard I try not to be messy,” Eren said, walking a bit faster and pulling Levi and Lancelot along because he saw their bus. When they reached the doors, Eren frowned; it was packed. Eren immediately looked down at Levi and asked, “Is it okay or do you want to wait for the next one?” clearly concerned about his boyfriend’s comfort. 

Levi eyed the crowded bus and chewed his bottom lip for a second. Normally he would just wait for the next one or get a ride, but Eren was with him. “Okay,” he said finally, reaching to pick up Lancelot before taking Eren's hand again, “But I don't like when people I don't know touch me so you have to stay close.”

“Levi… I don’t mind waiting for the next bus,” Eren assured firmly; they needed to make a decision, the rest of the line up of people waiting to get on the bus we’re almost all boarded and the bus driver wouldn’t wait forever. 

“It's fine. I want ice cream. You go first,” Levi affirmed, holding Lancelot against his chest and looking at Eren expectantly. 

Eren nodded his head then puffed his chest, stepping up onto the bus, showing the driver his pass, then making his way through the crowd. When Eren was by himself, he usually tried to make himself smaller to be polite, but this time, he made himself impossibly bigger; taking up as much space as possible to hopefully make a big enough path for Levi to walk untouched behind him. He spotted a corner of the bus unoccupied by the back door and led them there, reaching back to grip Levi by the arm and maneuver him beside the wall. 

Placing both hands on the wall to either side of Levi, Eren made himself into a wall to shield his boyfriend from the press of bodies around them. Of course this meant they were impossibly close together and Eren bit his lip, hoping that this wouldn’t make Levi uncomfortable. “This okay?” he asked as the bus began to move, “If it’s not, the door’s right there. We can get off at the next stop and catch a different one.” 

Levi fidgeted some, adjusting his hold on Lancelot so that he could use his free arm to wrap tightly around Eren’s waist and cuddle into his chest comfortably without squishing the ferret. “It’s good like this,” he murmured, rubbing his face against Eren’s breast and breathing in the pleasant scent of him. He couldn’t even see any of the other passengers like this, let alone be touched by them when Eren was shielding him; all he could see and feel was Eren and that was not bad at all. He wasn’t even feeling trapped or anxious like this; Eren wasn’t going to let anyone unwanted into Levi’s space. 

“Tell me if that changes,” Eren said, removing one hand from the wall and curling his fingers in the soft strands of Levi’s undercut, holding him close. It was only a few stops, maybe a fifteen minute ride, but with every stop around the university, more and more students got on to the point of capacity. Eren had to keep his head on a swivel, glaring at anyone that got too close to Levi, attempting to hide him even more with his broad shoulders and muscular torso. Eren routinely forgot his size after filling out so rapidly in the last few years for lacrosse. Sure, he wasn’t a linebacker, but he was a force to be reckoned with, especially when he was glaring as intensely as he was. 

“You look like you’re crushing him,” a particularly nosy stranger said to Eren, ready to get under his skin. Eren was an easy going guy, but hell if he’d let a stranger hurt someone he cared about, even if hurting Levi entailed only touching him. 

“Yeah well he’s fine,” Eren answered tersely, but bristled even further as the stranger got in his face trying to look around Eren’s build to see Levi’s face. “Hey buddy, back off! Leave him alone, he doesn’t like that,” Eren spit, knowing that Levi hated strangers staring at him. There was nowhere else to move on the jam packed bus but this asshole was nothing if not persistent. 

Levi could feel Eren tense up and could feel the vibrations from his voice in his chest and pulled his face away from where he’d tucked it against his boyfriend and found another passenger peering at him over Eren’s shoulder. He blinked then dropped his gaze, brows pinching together with irritation. He didn’t like it, not because he was uncomfortable; Eren still had him well shielded and secured, but this person was upsetting Eren and that made Levi upset too. “Stop staring. You’re wrong. Go away,” he blurted, still not looking back at the stranger, fingers curling and squeezing tight in the fabric at the back of his boyfriend’s shirt.

The supposedly Good Samaritan’s eyes widened then they turned their face away with a huff, unable to do much more to get away with the bus the way it was. Eren let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding then chuckled into Levi’s hair, pulling him back to their comfortable position from before. “Good job love. You told them good,” he said quietly into the soft spot behind Levi’s ear, “You’ve done wonderful. Just one more stop and I’m gonna buy you all the ice cream you want.” 

Pressing his nose to Eren’s neck, Levi nodded his acknowledgement, glad that they were nearly there. Lancelot snuffled, plucking at the material of Levi’s sleeve and curled into the crook of his arm, reacting to the vague spike of distress though it dissipated quickly once the stranger had turned their attention elsewhere and Eren’s voice rumbled behind his ear soothingly. “Good, I’ll have two scoops then,” his voice was muffled when he answered verbally, but he was sure Eren could hear it just fine.

“You could have ten since you’re so cute and I like you so much,” Eren said, then began nuzzling his face into Levi’s neck, making sure to press his nose firmly into the skin to make sure the touch didn’t irritate Levi. “You smell so good… And your skin is so soft,” Eren breathed almost to himself, losing himself a bit in Levi’s proximity. 

Before Eren could get too ahead of himself, their stop finally came and Eren had to look up, wrapping his arm around Levi’s shoulders to hold him close as he maneuvered them off the bus. Once on the sidewalk, Eren found his head again, placing both his hands firmly on Levi’s shoulders then looked him up and down. “You okay? In one piece?” he asked, concern in his eyes and in his voice. Eren didn’t like the idea of Levi making himself uncomfortable just for Eren’s sake; he wanted his boyfriend to feel nothing but good when they were together. 

Levi followed Eren’s eyes, looking down at himself and back up at his boyfriend perplexedly, shifting under the pleasant pressure of Eren’s hands, “Yes, I appear to have all my pieces. Are you okay, you’re making a weird face?”

Eren immediately rearranged his expression into his usual easy going smile. “I’m great, let’s go get you that ice cream,” he said, wrapping his arm around Levi’s shoulders and beginning to walk down the street once again but keeping Levi much closer, and managing to glare at anyone who passed by too closely. It seemed Eren was having a hard time turning off his protective side now that it had been triggered and he wanted to keep Levi as safe and as happy as he could. 

“Okay,” Levi agreed, leaning into Eren’s side, perfectly content to continue on with their plans, still holding Lancelot as Eren led them along, avoiding any passerby and keeping Levi close to him. It reminded Levi of Mikasa when they went out together, but it wasn’t annoying at all; he didn’t mind when it was Eren. “Are you going to get your ice cream in a cone or in a bowl?” he questioned after another second, continuing on their previous conversation as if the interruption had never happened.

“I’m definitely gonna get a cone,” Eren answered, smiling down at Levi as they walked, “Though I probably shouldn’t… that’s why it gets everywhere. I’m a slob.” He saw the ice cream stand ahead of them and relaxed just a bit… fucking finally. 

Levi grinned, nose crinkling cutely as he looked at Eren sidelong; considering Eren’s usual table manners, he could imagine the mess. “I’m not surprised. It’s a good thing we’re going to your apartment then, at least then you can get cleaned up again after. I think I will get a cone today too,” he answered, shifting Lancelot to his other arm, feeling a pleasant curl of excitement mingling with the familiar fluttering already in his belly as he caught sight of the stand. He was really looking forward to having one of his favourite treats with Eren.

They walked up to the stand surrounded by a white picket fence to block off the area with picnic tables to sit at. There was a disinterested teenager at the counter and the couple lucked out that there wasn’t a line. Eren gave the kid a polite smile and was about to speak when the teenager spoke over him.

“We have a no animal policy in the eating area, he has to stand on the other side of the fence,” he pointed with a limp hand. 

“That doesn't apply to service animals,” Levi said immediately, pointing at Lancelot’s vest as the ferret perked up in his arms. He looked at Eren with a sort of smug little smile, “It's against the law to deny me Lancelot.”

The teenager narrowed his eyes like the little prick he was, exerting probably the only sort of power he had in life. “Anybody could buy one of those off the Internet, I’m gonna need to see some id,” he said, leaning on the counter smiling back at Levi like he one upped him. 

Eren went completely still, trying to calm his heartbeat before he decked the asshole. He was red, fists shaking at his side. So focused in front of him, he didn’t notice the woman and her son come up behind them in line. 

Levi heaved a suffering sigh, setting Lancelot down on the ground next to his feet to dig out his wallet from his back pocket. He pulled out the appropriate card that had a picture of both him and Lancelot on it along with all the required information and offered it to the young man.

“Mom look at that giant rat. That man's got it on a leash. Can I pet it?”

The voice was young and came from behind them, immediately drawing Levi’s attention away from the teen behind the counter. He half turned to address the little kid, offended by the comment about Lancelot, “He's not a rat; he's a ferret and you can't pet him.”

The kid looked at him and Levi avoided meeting his curious and skeptical gaze, “Why not? Does he have rabies or something?”

“What? Why would--”

“Mitchell,” the boy's mother's voice cut off Levi's affronted response, pulling her son back by the shoulder, eyeing the vested ferret then Levi and briefly Eren before she seemed to come to some sort or conclusion and turned her attention back to her son, “Don't talk to him, he's one of those retarded people. His rat’s not a pet. It probably bites.”

Levi turned all the way around, staring at the mother's dramatically arched and too dark eyebrows instead of her eyes as he corrected her loudly, “He’s not a rat and it's rude to say retarded.”

“Excuse me?” the woman replied haughtily narrowing her eyes at him before looking to Eren, raising her brows which honestly made her look so odd, like she was shocked or something, though it seemed as though she was expecting him to do something about Levi.

“It's okay if you don't know, but you shouldn't assume things. Uncle Kenny says when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me. I'm not retarded, I'm on the spectrum and Lancelot is a ferret, _not_ a rat and he doesn't bite,” Levi finished, sure that if the woman's eyebrows crawled up any higher, they’d disappear right into her hairline and now she looked even odder with her mouth open like that. And she was making a weird sort of choking sound while her son tried to squirm out of her obviously tightening grip.

He abruptly turned back to the ice cream server and put out his hand expectantly, fidgeting his feet in mild irritation; he was getting impatient, “Can I have my card back now?”

“Levi,” Eren whined suddenly, pulling everyone's attention on him, “I don’t think I wanna eat here anymore… They serve little human boys that look like rats. You ever seen a kid look like a rat before? So gross. He looks unwashed. Someone should call CPS.” The woman’s mouth popped open in shock, while the teenager meekly handed back Levi’s card. Grabbing Levi’s hand, he started dragging him away, “There’s another ice cream stand with a little old lady two blocks south. Let’s go there.” 

Eren had tugged him and Lancelot nearly a whole block before Levi quite suddenly stopped, pulling Eren back somewhat forcefully. “You're going too fast for Lancelot,” he scolded, letting go of Eren's hand to pick up the panting ferret and settled him in his hood before he turned his attention properly to his boyfriend, trying to assess Eren's mood.

“You're angry,” he stated after a second, certain of it, but not quite sure why his boyfriend was practically seething, reminded of his cousin in similar circumstances, “Is it because that woman called me retarded?”

Eren bit his lip and turned his head away, avoiding Levi’s gaze. Eventually, he managed a small nod, arms lifting to cross defensively over his chest. 

Levi watched Eren's movements carefully and hummed thoughtfully before he suddenly stepped forward to wrap his arms around the back of Eren’s neck in a tight hug. Tiptoeing so that he could talk close to Eren's ear, he murmured, “It’s okay to be mad. She was wrong, but most people are ignorant like that. It doesn't really bother me. I'm not disabled, just different. Mikasa gets mad when people say stuff like that too, but you don't have to worry; it doesn't matter what they think.”

Eren visibly deflated within Levi’s embrace, arms lifting to wrap around his boyfriend and hug him tightly back. “It’s different though… I’m not like Mikasa ‘cause I know you can handle yourself… I’m the one who couldn’t handle it. I had to get out of there before I broke someone’s face… I told you I sometimes have trouble controlling it… I also need to get out of situations sometimes or else I’ll just snap and I don’t wanna do that in front of you,” he tried to explain quietly, hoping that Levi would understand. 

“Okay,” Levi accepted easily, giving Eren a squeeze, “You'll just have to tell me when that happens like I have to tell you when I get anxious, right? No problem. I don't want you to be angry. It's better when you’re smiling.” He gave Eren a handful of kisses along his collar and snuggled into him for another minute before he pulled back a bit, as if he’d just remembered, “Let’s go get ice cream now. I miss your apartment.”

Eren held on for another moment longer, “Okay… I’m sorry… Really sorry…” he said, then let Levi go. He looked at Lancelot tucked into Levi’s sweater as well and said, “Sorry buddy, next time we need to high tail it, I’ll make sure to pick you up so we can run, okay?” He lifted his hand to wiggle his fingers at the ferret and Lancelot nipped at them playfully almost as if to say all was forgiven. Eren smiled then held his hand out to Levi’s, “Okay so, this other shop has this little old Chinese lady that doesn’t speak much English running it, but she makes some flavours homemade. I took you to the first stand ‘cause they have like a million flavours to choose from and it’s closer to home by a block, but obviously they are under new management ‘cause I’ve never had a problem there before!” 

Slipping his fingers between Eren’s comfortably, Levi smiled back at him, beginning to swing their clasped hands again and happily moving past the previous discourse. “It’s okay, I don’t mind where we go; I just really want to have some ice cream with you and come to your apartment again. You still have to show me your collection of _toys_ , remember,” he said amiably, side-eyeing Eren as they began to walk again.

Eren frowned and eyes drifting skyward in thought, Levi’s hint completely going over his head. _Does he mean my beanie baby collection?_ he thought to himself, completely forgetting about their earlier conversation. “It’s a little embarrassing, but sure,” he said, giving Levi another smile. 

“I don't think it's anything to be embarrassed about. Uncle Kenny and Erwin both said it's perfectly natural...Oh! I almost forgot! I have something for you too,” Levi said, abruptly shifting topics again when the memories of the last time they’d seen each other reminded him, “I have a copy of my music for you. We can listen to some when we get home if you want.” And he picked up his pace a little faster as the shop came into view, suddenly really looking forward to getting back to Eren's apartment once they got their ice cream.

“Anything you want,” Eren said, feeling the last of his anger evaporate as he followed Levi to the shop. He was starting to think he’d follow Levi anywhere. 

[](http://s311.photobucket.com/user/XanderBradeshaw/media/SNK%20arts%20by%20me/spec%20ch%2010-2_zpsdo7xloye.jpeg.html)

[](http://s311.photobucket.com/user/XanderBradeshaw/media/SNK%20arts%20by%20me/spec%20ch%2010_zpsszkcens9.jpeg.html)


	11. Spearmint

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so much fun to write!!  
> Enjoy the second hand embarrassment XD

They got their ice cream from the shop without further mishap then walked back to Eren’s apartment hand in hand. He really hadn’t been lying to Levi when he said he was a messy eater; by the time Eren unlocked the front door, he was probably wearing more of the ice cream on his face and shirt than he had actually eaten.

“It’s like… really drippy okay! And… it’s hard to eat and walk at the same time,” Eren huffed in response to Levi’s giggle as he took off his shoes, mouth a mixture of fluorescent blue and pink, “I’m gonna go wash this off… Make yourself at home…” With that, he walked through the entrance then down the hall to the bathroom. He snorted at himself in the mirror then decided to just rip off his clothes to have a shower to make sure he was a hundred percent clean. 

Levi was still smiling, shaking his head as he bent down to let Lancelot off his leash while his boyfriend retreated to the bathroom. He tucked the leash away in his bag and pulled the strap over his head as he stepped further into the now familiar apartment, noticing the differences in where certain things were as compared to the last time he’d been there, cataloguing them idly as he set his bag down on the sofa. 

Eren was taking a long time… Levi might have liked to spend the time out on the balcony, but it had started to rain sometime in the handful of minutes they’d been inside Eren’s complex. Fidgeting impatiently for another few seconds, he debated just going to look for Eren’s collection himself. Eren had said to make himself at home so he didn’t think his boyfriend would mind if Levi explored a bit. He hadn’t really been in Eren’s room before. He took it in with interest, touching things as he wandered around ending at the bedside. He wondered if Eren kept his sex stuff in his nightstand; it seemed like a logical place to start looking.

He wasn’t wrong either. Inside the bottom drawer of the right hand side nightstand, he found a curious black box next to a half-empty bottle of vaguely familiar lubricant and when he opened it, he found exactly what he’d been looking for. He climbed up onto Eren’s bed with it, crossing his legs comfortably before he settled the box on his lap. Humming a lazy melody to himself, he began taking the various items out one by one, spreading them out across the bedding before he selected one to further inspect.

Finishing up in the shower, Eren dried off his body and threw on his jeans, scrubbing his hair with his towel as he exited the bathroom. “Sorry Levi… just had a quick shower,” he called out to the living room, assuming that’s where his boyfriend would be then walked into the bedroom. 

It was like a punch to the gut; all the air whooshed out of Eren’s lungs when he saw Levi cross-legged on his bed with _all_ of Eren’s sex toys around him. He managed to inhale a wad of spit in shock, coughing and spluttering as he turned beet red, watching as Levi held his favourite fucking _prostate massager_ in one hand and fiddled with the remote’s vibration settings. 

“Levi!” he wheezed, almost unable to do anything else, thinking he might just die right then and there, “I um-... what… You… What are you _doing_?” 

Levi didn’t even flinch, glancing up at his boyfriend briefly before his eyes went back to the object in his hand, turning up the setting and smiling in response to the sensation on his fingers as he answered idly, “Research. You have a lot of different ones, do you play with all of them? Which do you like the best?” They were called _toys_ , what else would you do but play with them, though they weren’t like any Levi’d ever played with before. Eren even had one that looked like the minivibe Levi had received with his purchases, considering a second before he pointed to the one in question, “Did you get that one as a free gift with your lubricant too?” 

Eren’s mouth was hanging open, gaping silently as he tried to find the words while his blush spread down his face to his neck and even up to the tips of his ears. Finally, his hands came up to dry scrub his face then run through his wet hair, then pinch at the bridge of his nose. “Okay… okay. This is fine. It’s totally fine. Fine, fine, fine…” Eren told himself, knowing that Levi didn’t get embarrassed and that his boyfriend was genuinely curious about it. Grabbing a shirt off the floor, Eren tugged it on over his head then said, “I’ll be right back…” He stepped out of the room in a daze to the kitchen then came back cradling a mickey of vodka. He sat down cross-legged on the bed facing Levi, then unscrewed the cap of the alcohol to knock back a swig. 

“Okay. Let’s do this. You can ask me about them, but only one question at a time,” Eren said, face grim with acceptance, steadying himself for one of the most embarrassing conversations he would probably ever have in his life. 

Levi hadn’t moved from where he was, still fiddling with the settings and inspecting the unique shape of the toy currently in his grasp when Eren returned. He spared his boyfriend another glance, noting the bottle of liquor curiously, but not bothering to ask about it as he nodded to Eren’s words instead. Eren was probably just embarrassed; he looked embarrassed. “Okay,” he agreed to the set terms, considering for a long moment before he decided which question to ask first, “Which one do you like the best?” 

“That one,” Eren said, nodding to the toy currently in Levi’s hand, “It’s a… _uh_... A prostate massager…” Taking a sip from the bottle, he coughed a bit then continued, “It’s… the most expensive toy I have… It hits um… The right… The _right_ area for me… Not all toys will work for every person… So that one… Works… And why it’s my uh… favourite.” _This is fucking painful,_ he thought, trying to focus on the embarrassment of it all instead of imagining Levi using his favourite toy _on him_. 

They hadn’t even kissed yet and they were discussing Eren’s favourite ways to get off… 

Humming, Levi looked at the toy in question with renewed interest. “I read about the prostate gland. It’s apparently very sensitive to stimulation,” he said offhandedly, smiling a bit amusedly, “Which is funny considering where it’s located. Speaking of…” He lifted the toy up, turning it in his hands,”How do you fit it in? It doesn’t look like it would be comfortable...” He wanted to ask more, but he reminded himself Eren had said only one at a time; it was kind of hard to remember when he had so many to ask and he was so impatient to know.

Eren held up his hand for a moment, taking a large chug of vodka then grimacing from the taste. “Lubricant and… Well… Lots of stretching and preparation before you know…” _Levi didn’t know_ , “Insertion…” Eren frowned, rubbing at his burning cheek then looked up at Levi through his eye lashes, “Levi… how much do you know about… gay sex…?” 

“I read a lot of technical information about it and about the importance of condoms and preparation, and sexually transmitted infections and diseases, but there wasn’t a lot on the websites Erwin gave me about toys and that sort of thing, so I’ve been doing some research of my own. Some of the articles about masturbation mentioned the use of toys and then when I was ordering lubricant, I saw a couple advertised so I got curious about them too. And since you use them, it seems logical to learn about the ones you like, but they don’t always look like penises and they aren’t made out of the same things so it’s a bit confusing when it comes to how to play with them, There weren’t any videos and not enough pictures on the websites that I was browsing,” Levi over-explained idly, finally turning the thing off, but still holding it, trying to figure out which part was supposed to go where.

Eren groaned, tipping his head back as he dry scrubbed his face before he looked at Levi once again. “Okay! Okay… So it’s like this…” he began, waving his arms around, “Toys are like… Toys range from intermediate level to expert when it comes to masturbation… Like in a video game yeah?” Eren didn’t wait for Levi to answer, too flustered to even try. “You,” he gestured to Levi, “Are a beginner… You can’t just skip to expert level… Which is what that is…” He reached forward to grab the toy from Levi’s hands. “ _I_ know what turns me on and how to get off being anally penetrated with my prostate massaged,” Eren said, pointing towards himself, “ _You_ should probably figure out like… what turns you on… And use your hands and fingers to see what feels good before you get into stuff like this…” Eren waved the prostate massager around for a moment before he asked with exasperation, “Do you masturbate? You should… You should probably start with that along with like… you know… _porn_... Before we start to get into…” He waved his hand at the bed for a moment trying to come up with the words. “This stuff... It took me a long time to figure out what I liked… And a lot of these toys I don’t even use because I didn’t like how they felt or whatever… It takes practise and trial and error to reach expert level…” 

Levi blinked at the other man, then he started to laugh a bit. And it wasn’t that he thought Eren was trying be funny and it probably wasn’t really an appropriate time to be laughing, but his boyfriend just seemed so flustered and he was so concerned over nothing. He shook his head, settling his hands on his crossed ankles and rocking back a bit where he sat, elaborating before Eren got the wrong idea, “Don’t worry, I’m not planning on trying any of that yet. I haven’t even tried the manual stimulation. I’m just gathering information for future reference. I don’t want to not know. Erwin said it was best to ask you about this kind of thing, about what you like and don’t like. But I would anyway; I want to know. And I’ll tell you about mine too when I figure them out. I might be a beginner, but you aren’t and I’d rather be prepared when we start doing sex stuff together…” He paused for a second as a thought occurred to him, “Unless you only use your toys when you’re alone. That’s okay too though, I’ll just keep my research in that department casual and focus on other things instead. I didn’t think of it before, but I don’t mind.”

Eren made a noise that seemed in the ballpark of an embarrassed squeal, passing Levi the open bottle of vodka, then flopping forward to faceplant in the bed, bending quite flexibly forward to collapse into himself. “You’re killing me… I’m dying… _Dying_...” Eren declared dramatically, though less so with his voice muffled in the comforter. He was quiet for a moment then said, “Most of my toys are prostate massagers… ‘Cause… I… Like anal stuff okay?” He then sat up to throw his hands in the air, “We just! We haven’t even gotten to first base yet! We aren’t even close to a grand slam!” 

“Okay… Grand slam?” Levi echoed quizzically, having a hard time following the references, before it dawned on him what exactly Eren meant as he held the bottle in between his hands, “Oh do you mean sex? Are we supposed to wait to talk about this until after we’ve gotten more intimate? If so, you should have said so sooner.” And though he’d said it, he was still thinking about what Eren had told him and he couldn’t help looking at the massager they’d been discussing. Quite abruptly, it registered that the thing had actually been inside Eren and that Eren _liked_ having things inside him and suddenly a few things shifted into place in his head. And he wondered if Eren got embarrassed and turned as red when he was actually doing that stuff and if he would when Levi was with him, not just when he talked about it. Well, that wouldn’t be bad… at all. 

“I mean anal sex… is what a grand slam is…” Eren answered haltingly, biting his lip and looking down. “I just-... you-... you already had them all out… I don’t know… maybe it _is_ better that you’re prepared for when we do get there,” Eren sighed, running his fingers through his hair, “I’m just… embarrassed… It’s kinda hard to tell my brand spanking new boyfriend that doesn’t seem to have the same sexual urges as I do that I like taking it up the ass! It’s _embarrassing_... I also thought I might freak you out… I don’t even know what I’m thinking right now…” 

Levi cocked his head, brow furrowing in thought as he mulled over Eren’s words and watched his boyfriend shift antsily. “So, when we have a _grand slam_ , you want me to penetrate you anally? That’s good then because I was planning to try that first. I don’t know if I would like it the other way… Not that I won’t try it sometime maybe, probably, but it might not be good to do on the first attempt since I might have a bad reaction. I’m not freaked out and I do have them, urges… They’re just a bit slow and I’m still figuring them out. They’re all weird and out of the ordinary because I never really wanted to do any of it before by myself or with anyone else, but then I met you and I think about it a lot now,” he said, one hand settling on his belly where that warm tingling fluttery feeling was getting strong again, and he shouldn’t be because Eren’s room wasn’t particularly hot, but Levi was. And he was thinking about sex again now, with Eren, but it was kind of a confusing mess because he couldn’t really properly imagine it which was unexpectedly frustrating and he made a mental note to look for some proper videos to demonstrate later.

“Why are you embarrassed so much? Is it because you’re worried I’ll think you’re weird? I won’t. Erwin said that I have to communicate my needs and listen to yours. I don’t know mine yet, but you will be the first to know when I do. Actually knowing yours kind of makes it easier for me to figure out my own,” he said as an afterthought before he frowned, “Sorry, that was two questions, three if you include the one about the _grand slam_.”

Eren covered his face for a moment, trying to take everything in, breathing in and out before he finally spoke, “It’s embarrassing because… I don’t know. I don’t normally talk with people about what I like sexually… it’s always been something private… And yeah I definitely don’t want you to think I’m weird…” Putting his hands down, he crawled forward on the bed, shoving all the toys away with one hand and taking the open bottle of vodka from Levi’s hands to set on the nightstand. “Okay… I would _like_ you to _eventually_ fuck me up the ass,” Eren said kneeling on the bed before Levi and reaching forward to take his boyfriend’s hands, “I wanna take things slow and get to that point at our own pace… So you keep figuring out your needs and I’ll try to stop being embarrassed about everything… Is that a good plan?” His eyes were pleading with Levi’s to agree so they could finally end this embarrassing conversations. 

Levi was a bit confused since he’d thought that’s what they were already doing, but Eren must not have thought the same. “Yes, that’s good,” he agreed just to be sure that at least now they both understood, squeezing Eren’s hands with his, looking down at them for a long minute before he figured it was okay to ask another question, “So, which toys do you not like? We should throw them away.”

Letting go of Levi’s hands, Eren gripped him by the shoulders and pushed him back into the pillows then flopped on top of his boyfriend.He snuggled his face into Levi’s neck and ordered, “You’re on a time out… Eren needs a break… so _shhhhhh_... it’s cuddle time now…” 

Levi yelped, but started to laugh as Eren flopped onto him, squirming under him a bit and spreading his legs to accommodate the taller male. Eren was probably hotter than Levi and with his heat added, it was pretty uncomfortable, but even so, Levi didn’t want his boyfriend to move. Settling his arms around Eren’s waist and squeezing firmly, he agreed with a simple, “Okay.” He wasn’t about to pass up cuddling with Eren even if he did still have some questions about his collection; Eren didn’t seem to want to talk about it anymore right now anyway. And even if they didn’t talk anymore about it for the moment, Levi already had a lot to think about when he was at home later.

***

Eren was exhausted the next day when he dragged himself to Hange’s early morning class, wearing a black sweatshirt and jeans. Levi and him had spent the rest of the evening cuddling and when his boyfriend had left, Eren had masturbated furiously to the thought of them eventually having sex. He couldn’t help himself, just the thought of Levi thinking about it had Eren’s libido sky rocketing.

The rest of the students around him looked just as sleepy as Eren passed them climbing the stairs to his seat by Levi sluggishly. He gave his boyfriend a smile as he flopped down, “Good morning…” 

Levi looked at Eren as the brunette came up the aisle, pressing pause on the video he’d just loaded on his laptop and pulled his headphones off to properly greet him when he plopped down in his usual seat. “Good morning Eren,” he smiled as he spoke and looked at his boyfriend for a drawn few minutes, just taking him in for the day. Eren’s hair was even messier than usual, but oddly enough, Levi found he kind of liked it like that, though he didn’t say so. He was dressed in his usual style, though all in black except for the vibrant pink, flamingo patterned shirt he was wearing beneath his black zip up, his laptop and notebook set out in front of him so he could take notes as he continued researching. 

He’d found a few websites that had a lot of different videos when he’d gotten home from Eren’s and he’d spent most of the night sifting through them. Most hadn’t been that informative and the men getting penetrated really didn’t look like they were enjoying themselves most of the time, but Levi thought that might be because they didn’t seem to do a lot of stretching if any before they got to the grand slam; he didn’t really care for those videos much, but he was having a frustrating time finding others that demonstrated better the entire process from start to finish. He’d had to stop searching and go to bed when Kenny had come up to check on him and told him to go to sleep; he’d even threatened to take Levi’s laptop altogether if he didn’t comply. So he’d had to wait until this morning to begin again with a different site that seemed to have a better selection, but he hadn’t been able to watch more than one before he’d had class. And since he already knew the material being covered, he figured he would just keep looking once he was settled in. He could have just stayed home, but he’d wanted to see Eren even if they couldn’t talk much during class.

“Mm, I like your shirt,” Eren complimented without thinking about it, stretching his arms over his portion of the desk then laying his cheek down on the cool surface with a yawn. Hange seemed to be late this morning so Eren asked Levi, “Can we hold hands? I wish we could just skip class and go snuggle somewhere… I’m tired…” His voice was whiny but he continued to smile up at Levi sleepily as he held out his hand palm up. 

Levi’s smile broadened and he nodded, reaching over to take the offered hand familiarly. “Were you up late too?” he asked, glancing around the room briefly to be sure there was still time for talking before he returned his gaze to his boyfriend, leaning a bit to peer at him where Eren was sprawled on the desk.

“Yeah,” Eren said with a nod but didn’t elaborate, twining his fingers with Levi’s and running his thumb firmly over his boyfriends soft skin. “Your hand is cold,” Eren commented sitting up to rub Levi’s hand between both of his much warmer ones, lifting it to his lips to blow warm air on it as well. 

“They’re almost always cold. My mother used to say cold hands means a warm heart,” Levi said, wrinkling his nose a bit in response to the ticklish sensation of Eren’s breath warming his fingertips, “You’re warm all over though.”

“Yep!” Eren said, popping the ‘p’ and grinning up at Levi from where he was hunched over their hands. It was then that Hange ran in with a bunch of loose papers trailing behind her, screeching out her apologies as she tried to get ready to start class. Eren pressed a couple firm kisses to Levi’s hand then turned to face forward himself, pulling out his laptop with one hand so that he could type out his notes. 

Levi smiled again and flexed his fingers as Eren kissed his hand then settled back into his seat. He only paid attention until Hange had begun her lecture before he slipped his headphones back on and hit play on his video again with his unoccupied hand, still holding Eren’s with his other. As the first sounds of breathy voices started up in the video and the two young men on it began kissing and removing each other’s clothing, he took up his pen to continue jotting notes. The video already seemed to be more of what he’d been looking for and though the two men in it looked nothing like Eren or himself, Levi found it was much easier to imagine them in their place than it had been with the other videos he’d seen, especially once they got further into the foreplay and preparation.

With an absent mind, Eren began to caress down Levi’s thumb with his own, even bending so he could feel the smooth skin of his boyfriend’s knuckles. He wasn’t really paying attention to Hange, staring at his screen blankly, not even bothering to take notes. He was completely unaware of what Levi was doing, playing with his pencil between the fingers of the other hand. 

The men in the video were naked now and quite clearly aroused. They had been kissing and touching for a while and they weren’t just kissing on the mouth and Levi leaned forward a bit, intrigued as the taller of the two slipped down between the other’s legs, kneeling on the floor in front of the bed they’d been kissing on. And they were making a lot of _those_ sounds, but Levi didn’t mind them so much, especially when he imagined them coming from Eren. As he thought of him, his gaze shifted from the screen where the taller had started licking his partner’s erection to his boyfriend. His hand was tingling and hot as Eren unconsciously thumbed along the back of it and that tight, burning, fluttery feeling was back and getting stronger in his gut and Eren didn’t even know he was looking at him, but it didn’t seem to matter anymore; just watching him was making Levi feel weird now. Weird, but not bad.

Hange was taking forever; Eren just wanted to go home and sleep. He brought his pencil up to his mouth in frustration and began nibbling on the eraser like a rabbit. He’d always had the bad habit of putting the end of his pencil in his mouth, kinda like chewing his nails. Eventually though he kind of just let it hang from his lips as he had to type up some of the important parts of what Hange was saying. 

Levi watched the progression of Eren’s pencil and the way his lips curved around it and he suddenly felt restless, shifting in his seat. He glanced back at the video on his screen for a moment, long enough to see the man kneeling swallow the other’s penis rather impressively before he looked back at his boyfriend. And the sounds were still playing over his headphones and abruptly he was thinking about Eren’s lips and his mouth and all the places they could be aside around Eren’s pencil. He bet Eren’s mouth was hot too like the rest of him and he wondered what that must feel like. He was fidgeting continuously now, unable to remain still and feeling oddly uncomfortable. It was like being anxious only he didn’t _feel_ anxious. His clothes felt weird, like they were shrinking slowly and he felt really warm all of the sudden and the tightness in his belly was really getting strong.

Sensing Levi’s eyes on him, Eren turned his head to see Levi flushed and fidgeting in his seat, looking at Eren with glazed over eyes. Eren frowned, about to ask what was wrong when movement on Levi’s screen made him pause, his eyes flickering to the video of a blow job. 

_What the fuck?_ his mind screeched, looking back to Levi then down, the bulge in his boyfriend’s pants unmistakeable. 

“Levi!” he whisper hissed as his face filled with colour, waiting for his boyfriend to take off the headphones. “What are you doing… we are in class!” he said when Levi removed his headphones.

“Research,” Levi answered as if it should be obvious, though it seemed like Eren disagreed, actually, Eren seemed a little upset, but he wasn’t sure exactly why. It wasn’t a problem; Levi had already read the material if that was what he was worried about. He blinked at his boyfriend, shifting again, reaching an unconscious hand down to his lap to adjust his pants, startled by what he found there. “Oh,” he looked down at his lap and back up at Eren, “I have an erection… That’s weird…” He hadn’t just woken up and he didn’t have to pee and it was really uncomfortable now that he’d noticed it, kind of throbbing and it kind of felt good when he shifted and that was weirder. Maybe that was why Eren looked upset.

“ _Shhhhh_ , _shhhhh_ ,” Eren said flailing, Levi’s voice in the quiet room felt like he was screaming it out loud instead. Unfortunately for Eren, his arms waving around were much more attention catching than Levi’s normal talking voice, attracting the gaze of their Professor. 

“Everything alright there boys?” Hange asked, raising an eyebrow at Eren. 

“Yes! Yes Professor!” Eren squeaked, standing up in his chair and now the whole class was turning around to stare at them, “Levi… um Levi has a stomach ache! I should… I should take him home!” 

“Is that true Levi?” Hange asked, turning her eyes on the shorter male that didn’t look like he was in pain at all though he was a little flushed; maybe a fever? 

“No,” Levi answered, looking at their professor, focusing on her glasses as per habit as he elaborated unabashedly, “I have an unexpected erection.”

The entire class was silent, a pin could drop and everyone would hear it. Eren looked like his soul had left his body while Hange blinked in surprise. 

“Well then… That’s a little bit too much information Levi but you can go to the bathroom if you need to,” Hange said, her voice completely even before she turned back to the board to continue her lecture. 

Eren slowly sank to his desk as he sat back, shell shocked. Had that actually just happened or was he going to look down and see his underwear before he woke up from this nightmare? 

Levi’s brow furrowed; why had she asked if she didn’t actually want to know? And further confused by her suggestion; why would he need to go to the bathroom? “I don’t have to pee though,” he replied though she wasn’t facing him anymore, adjusting himself again antsily, abruptly understanding what she must have meant, “Oh… You mean to masturbate. Uncle Kenny said masturbation should be done in private and the bathrooms here are public professor.”

Turning back around, Hange looked to Eren, knowing that trying to explain to Levi wouldn’t be a good time. “Eren, could you...” was all she had to say before Eren was up again, beginning to pack his stuff up and then Levi’s stuff despite his boyfriend’s unhappy noises. 

Leaning down, he whispered into Levi’s ear, “Let’s just go… We are interrupting the class.” He took Levi’s hand and pulled gently, hoping that Levi wouldn’t protest anymore. 

Levi frowned, but complied, letting Eren pull him along down the aisle; he wasn’t supposed to disrupt class, but he’d never been in a situation quite like this before so he hadn’t really meant to. It was awkward walking with an erection and he kept having to reach down with his unoccupied hand to try and adjust it as his boyfriend pulled him out of the room where everyone was rudely staring at them. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything…

Eren led Levi all the way to the bathroom down the hall, made sure no was inside, then dragged Levi into the handicapped stall. He locked it behind them then crowded Levi into the metal barrier, hugging him tightly. “ _Jesus fuck_ Levi,” Eren partially groaned, partially moaned. That may have been the most embarrassing thing he’d ever had to go through, but seeing Levi aroused had _him_ aroused too, his aching erection pressing into Levi’s. He didn’t do anything though, just held Levi close as he tried to calm down. How could he be so mortified and so horny at the same time? 

Confused, but returning Eren’s embrace awkwardly, unable to move much with how tightly Eren had pressed in against him, mildly uncomfortable given their location and his lack of understanding. Eren had been upset, now he was hugging him so hard and Levi was pretty sure Eren had an erection too. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to...” He hadn’t meant to embarrass Eren or be inappropriate which he was getting the feeling was the case and he wasn’t even sure what exactly had caused the weird occurrence. It was lasting a long time too and it felt both kind of good and not at the same time when Eren’s rubbed alongside it and he wasn’t really sure what to make of it. The only explanation was that he was aroused, but because he couldn’t properly gauge when exactly it had happened, he wasn’t sure what had actually done it. Maybe it was the video? Or maybe it was because he’d been imagining Eren... He was leaning towards the latter, but he’d have to test out the theory later. He’d been hoping to try out masturbation the next time he’d gotten erection, but he couldn’t very well do it in the public bathroom, especially when Eren was clinging onto him like that. If he could recreate it later when he was at home in private, maybe…

“It’s… It’s fine… Not your fault…” Eren breathed nuzzling into Levi’s neck. He couldn’t let go, couldn’t push forward, so Eren was caught in a sort of weird limbo. But he knew Levi was probably confused so he said in a rush, “You got hard, then I got hard, then we both did the walk of shame in front of our entire class… And now I’m so horny I’m gonna self destruct… So let’s just stay like this until I can competently resist the urge to get on my knees and suck you off like the video you were watching.” 

“Oh,” Levi said, mulling Eren’s words over with interested consideration, agreeing distractedly to the request to just stay the way they were; now that Eren had mentioned it, all he could think about was the exact thing he’d been thinking about before, “Okay.” He was silent and still for a handful of minutes, just awkwardly holding onto his boyfriend as Eren held him and trying to think of something else, but he had to ask. He needed to know, “You _want_ to give me a blowjob?”

“Yeah…” Eren breathed, pulling back even though his heart was still pounding in his ears and his dick was still rock solid. “You don’t want me to?” he asked, cocking his head, his face still very much flushed as he looked down at Levi. 

Levi looked at him as Eren drew back and peered down at him and he didn’t avoid his gaze, though he only held it a moment before he looked at Eren’s lips and it wasn’t because the eye contact had been uncomfortable. And for some inexplicable reason, he had to lick his own before he could properly reply, probably later than was prudent, “I think… I’d like that… Not right now though. The floor is gross, your knees would get dirty and we haven’t had a proper first kiss yet.”

Eren smiled then nodded his head, leaning forward to press a kiss to Levi’s cheek before he pulled back completely. He turned around to stuff a hand down his pants to adjust his cock up into his band to hide it. “Wanna get out of here?” he asked, turning to face Levi once again, his backpack along with Levi’s hanging precariously off his shoulder. 

Nodding, Levi reached for his bag, readily taking it back from his boyfriend as he replied verbally, “Yes, let’s do that. It smells disgusting in here.” It was still uncomfortably awkward to walk, adjusting it unconsciously under the cover of his sweater, but he was otherwise unconcerned with the lingering erection that pressed insistently against his jeans, happy enough to follow his boyfriend wherever Eren wanted to go so long as they weren’t going to stay in the bathroom any longer. It was probably teeming with bacteria and it wasn’t very comfortable for cuddling anyway.

“Any other classes today?” Eren asked, taking Levi’s hand and leading him out of the bathroom, “I feel like skipping…” 

“Mm, I have advanced music theory, but I don’t have to go. We’re just working on our end of term compositions anyways. Do you want to go to the Planetarium? Or we could go to a movie. They play the sensory sensitive ones pretty early,” Levi replied amiably, happy enough for the distraction from his arousal and the idea of blowjobs at the moment. Maybe it would go away if he ignored it.

“Movie sounds good,” Eren said, his pace lazy, letting go of Levi’s hand to wrap his arm around Levi’s shoulder as they walked through the halls, “I can skip class but I can’t skip practise… So we got until 4:00 pm to do whatever we want… Could even find a place to give you a quick blowie…” Eren snickered, immediately leaning forward to press a sloppy kiss to Levi’s cheek, “Just kidding…” 

Levi hummed, leaning into his boyfriend, as they walked. He made a sound, wrinkling his nose and wiping the wetness from his cheek with a hand after Eren had kissed it, side-eying his boyfriend with a sort of suspicious expression, “Would you still be kidding if I said okay?”

“Who knows… Probably about a fifty fifty chance, wanna test your luck?” Eren asked, turning his head to give Levi a sly smirk. 

“Okay,” Levi replied, a decidedly impish little grin tipping the corner of his mouth up as he played along, wanting to tease the other male in retaliation; he was pretty sure they were flirting again anyway. Probably. “But you should know, there's an equal chance I'll react badly and you'll have to explain to Mika what happened. So the real question is, do _you_ feel lucky?”

“Aww baby, don’t be like that,” Eren whined, pulling Levi closer, “I’ll do it so good, there’s no way you’ll react badly!” Eren winked cheesily at Levi, and flashed him one finger gun before he burst out into laughter. “In all seriousness, I am kidding. I’m a classy broad, Levi. You gotta wine and dine me first if you want me to suck your cock,” he said, sticking his tongue out at Levi cutely. 

Levi lowered his lashes at Eren, replying without an ounce of hesitation or discretion, “I can do that. I want to know what your mouth feels like.” 

Eren’s jaw dropped as his heart skipped a beat, but he recovered quickly, ducking his head as his cheeks were filled with colour once again. “Any-... Any movies you wanna see in particular?” Eren asked, changing the subject.

“Mm maybe something funny if there are any playing,” Levi responded, latching onto the new topic easily, “But we’ll probably have to decide when we get there… It’s still early though, can we get waffles first?”

“Sure… whatever you want,” Eren said, giving Levi an affectionate smile before they continued on their way. An impromptu date wasn’t what Eren had planned for the day, but there was no way he’d complain. Any time spent with Levi was worth it.

[](http://s311.photobucket.com/user/XanderBradeshaw/media/SNK%20arts%20by%20me/C_Users_xande_000_AppData_Local_Packages_Microsoft.SkypeApp_kzf8qxf38zg5c_LocalState_adc04bbc-b31a-418f-a848-86ff14707e69_zpskfcmyoh5.jpeg.html)


	12. Lime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!  
> Hope you enjoy the update! 
> 
> We are launching our new fic Young Blood! For more info, click [here.](http://teapotscandal.tumblr.com/post/178709591165/may-i-have-your-attention-please)

Eren spent almost the entire day with him and he didn’t get another erection, but that might have been because he was too distracted by the waffles, then the animated movie they’d seen where they’d both laughed a lot. Then there’d been lunch at this Korean place Levi had never been to, but Eren swore was the best, where they got to grill their own food and he’d really liked that and they’d gone to the aquarium after and Levi had told Eren pretty much everything he knew about fish and the ocean. And then they’d went to Eren’s practise and Levi was glad he’d kept his pom poms in his bag; Lancelot couldn’t steal them there. Eren had even walked him home and stayed for dinner and a bit to look at the stars with Levi; they even brought his telescope out into the backyard to have a better look. It was a really good date though the morning had been weird at the start and he’d had to have a long talk with his uncle after about what had happened. And he’d been too tired to attempt recreating it once he was alone in his room.

His boyfriend wouldn’t be able to see him the following day because he had to _actually_ study even though Levi offered to help, maybe not even Friday either since Levi was busy then. He took Lancelot to the pet shop like usual, went for a walk in the park after where a little old lady who was even shorter than him gave him some seeds to feed the ducks at the pond there and told him how she’d met her three husbands. Once he’d gone back home, he’d composed a bit and then finally settled in to continue his research, since he couldn’t text Eren or call him until at least eight pm; Eren had said so so that he could properly focus. He’d explained that if his grades dropped, he could get suspended from the team and his parents would be disappointed and Levi understood, so though it was hard not to text Eren about the old lady and the ducks and the new batch of baby ferrets at the petshop, he didn’t and occupied himself instead. The research was a really good distraction and Levi was learning a lot. 

Completely unaware about what was about to happen, Eren was knee deep in studying for his linear algebra midterm when his phone buzzed, startling him out of whatever problem he was trying to bullshit his way through. Picking up his phone, he smiled when he saw that Levi had texted him right at eight o’clock. 

**Levi** : Call me.

Eren’s brows furrowed and he immediately dialed, listening to it ring before Levi finally picked up. 

“Hey I got your text! Everything alright?” Eren asked, his tone a bit concerned. 

“Yes,” Levi replied immediately and then was quiet for a long second as he shifted on his bed, and settled his laptop next to him with the video he’d been watching still playing on the screen. “Everything is alright. I just wanted to hear you talk,” he finally elaborated honestly. He had been patiently waiting for eight o’clock to come, and he’d gotten caught up in his research and he’d kept thinking about his boyfriend. And certainly he felt too warm again and that weird _not_ -anxiety had risen up in him again, but he hadn’t gotten an erection and abruptly he’d wanted to hear Eren’s voice. Actually, he’d have liked to see him too, but it was impossible at the moment, so he’d had to settle for the next best thing. He’d concluded that it was Eren’s presence that had fully aroused him; he’d even rewatched the blowjob video and several others like it to be sure. He definitely liked imagining Eren, but still no erection and the only explanation he could come up with was that Eren had been right next to him the last time and now he wasn’t. 

If hearing Eren could give him an erection, he’d know without a doubt that it was Eren that turned him on and neither of them would have any doubts anymore, and he could finally try masturbating. Then maybe they could start experimenting some more after. It wasn’t going to be a long wait because really the biggest excuse was that they hadn’t kissed yet, but Levi already had plans to remedy that, so he really wanted to get the rest of his research out of the way. He already felt like he was way behind, a _late bloomer_ like Kenny had said and a beginner like Eren had said, and he wasn’t really embarrassed about it, but he really wanted to know what he had been missing.

“Aww, miss me babe?” Eren cooed teasingly into the phone as he got up from his desk then made his way to his room to flop on the bed. “I missed you too,” he added much more seriously, “Would’ve been nicer to hang out and cuddle with you instead of study… But talking on the phone is nice too.” 

“Yes, this is good,” Levi agreed as he fidgeted in his bed, finding it difficult to be still as he felt his temperature rising further and that same feeling of his clothes tightening. And when he looked down, he was pleased to see that his prediction was coming true. “I like to hear you talk,” he said after a second, voice sounding weird to his own ears, deeper or something as he pushed his underwear down, glad he was only wearing them and a t-shirt, especially since he was feeling so warm now.

“Yeah?” Eren said with a chuckle, “That’s good, since I can’t seem to shut the fuck up… Have I ever told you how much I hate math? Like. It’s like. _ew_... I actually felt really good about my studying today. Got in the zone and shit and got a lot done… Especially ‘cause then I can spend more time with you this weekend…” Eren rambled on and on, completely unaware how Levi was reacting to the sound of his voice. 

“Yeah,” Levi echoed distractedly, closing his eyes as he listened to Eren’s voice, his unoccupied hand unconsciously migrating down to adjust himself. But it lingered instead of retreating since there wasn’t any barrier and it felt pretty good when he touched the erection that was now pretty evident. And it definitely wasn’t because he had to pee and even though his eyes were closed, he was wide awake; it was Eren. He squeezed a bit and slid his grip upwards, “Oh…nn, not bad...”

“Yeah spending time together is always good,” Eren said wistfully. He waited for Levi to answer but all he could really hear was some quiet panting on the other end of the line. “You okay?” Eren asked, growing concerned, “What are you doing?” 

Levi made a non committal breathy sound as he moved a bit more in his bed, remembering abruptly and reaching for the new bottle of lubricant freshly opened on his nightstand, pouring some into his hand before he returned it to his erection; it was starting to feel really pretty good. The lubricant wasn’t oily or sticky which he liked and it made his grip glide smoothly even though it wasn’t a light grip and that felt even better.

“Masturbating,” he answered properly after a handful of seconds, mostly because Eren had stopped talking and it was pretty clear he was waiting for an answer. And Levi really kind of felt like he needed to keep hearing Eren’s voice, imagining his mouth moving, lips forming the words and even some words he wasn’t actually saying right now.

Eren abruptly dropped his phone then scrambled to pick it back up. “Say that again for me one more time?” Eren said, his voice a little breathless from his panic. He swore to god he’d heard _masturbating_ , but that couldn’t be what Levi had said… could it?

Levi’s breath hitched a bit and he exhaled shakily as his fingers strayed to experiment with the head of his penis, curious about the fluid that had begun collecting there. “ _Mast-ur-bating,_ ” he articulated somewhat huskily, assuming Eren had misheard him previously; his voice could have been muffled since he’d been moving around so much.

Falling back against his bed like he had just been slapped, Eren whispered, “ _Holy fuck_...” He could feel his blood rush from his head to his dick and before he could even think about what he was doing, his hand had migrated there too. “Shit, seriously love?” he said, his voice a lot deeper than it was previous, “You wanted to hear my voice while you touched yourself?” 

“Yes… I wasn’t making a joke… I was researching, and I was thinking about you... but then it wasn’t quite enough to give me an erection so I thought... since I can’t see you like yesterday, just hearing you might be good too... And it worked... This way it’s still private since we’re only on the phone,” Levi replied between harshening breaths, squeezing and relaxing his grip with piqued interest, “Mmn, it feels better than I expected.”

“Fucking shit, that’s _hot_ ,” Eren whined, unable to resist the urge to press harder on his clothed erection, “Can I… Do you mind if I… Touch myself too?” 

Levi was quiet again, only the vague sound of his heated breath over the line for some seconds as he mulled over Eren’s request. He hadn’t thought of that, but… “Okay.” He really didn’t mind; he’d been wondering what kind of sounds Eren would make anyway.

Eren hummed as he quickly undid his jeans with one hand then pulled them down just enough for his cock to pop out, already hard and glistening. Wrapping his fingers around it and giving it one good tug, Eren’s breath hitched then he gasped into the phone. “What were you… What are you thinking about? Is there anything… You are like imagining… Doing with me?” Eren asked, his words halting like he was having a hard time constructing a sentence. 

“Mm, lots of things really, sex, but mostly I’ve been thinking about your mouth. I like your mouth a lot, your lips specifically… And I’ve been thinking about kissing and about how you taste… And then I watched that blowjob video again and I was thinking about that before you called me. I think it wouldn’t be bad to try that. But I want to use my mouth too, I’ve wanted to for a while, I just didn’t know how before…” Levi answered, words hitched and breathy in places as he continued doing what felt most good. It was starting to get uncomfortably hot in his belly and tight like when he was frustrated, but he didn’t know what the hell he could be frustrated about right now, because he was pretty content with the progress in their relationship.

“Okay… _Okay_ ,” Eren hissed, already fighting the urge to buck up into his hand, “When you’re ready, after our first kiss… I’ll suck you off, yeah? Go nice and slow, but firm so it doesn’t feel bad… I’ll lick up and down your cock so that it’s nice and wet, and suck it all the way down my throat… It’ll feel like… warm and wet… and just I promise it’ll feel _amazing_ Okay?” Eren’s breath hitched again, moaning long and loud as he listened to the sounds Levi was making. “Just try and imagine me being there right next to you love… That it’s my hand instead of yours,” he breathed into the phone, hoping that it was almost like he was breathing debauchery right into Levi’s ear. 

It wasn’t all that hard to imagine what Eren said, especially when he’d already imagined it before, only now he wasn’t just imagining Eren saying those things because Eren was really saying them and it was almost like he was there. Eren’s hand would be bigger and rougher, and his mouth… Levi made an almost distressed sound suddenly followed by several hitched breaths and a quiet whine when the tightness in his belly exploded in electric waves and warm wetness splattered against his belly and over his hand. And the sensation was so intense, he forgot how to properly breathe for a minute, holding his breath with his eyes closed until he couldn’t and it came out in a shaky and harsh exhale, “Whoa…”

Eren paused his own ministrations at Levi’s wail and then smiled affectionately at his ‘whoa’. “Did you cum love? Did it feel good?” Eren asked, the burning in his groin becoming so unbearable, he _had_ to keep stroking himself. Any more breathy words or moans from Levi and Eren was sure he’d spill into his hand quite easily. Just a little bit more… 

It took Levi a second to answer, mostly because he had to force his eyes to actually open so he could look down at himself to be sure. He lifted his hand, spreading his fingers and examining the milky substance as it webbed between them and wrinkled his nose. “Yes…” He finally answered, voice still breathless and a bit hoarse like he’d been yelling, but he was sure he hadn’t raised his voice at all, and still looking at the mess on his hand and all over him really with a deepening frown. “I have to go now,” he finished abruptly, and in his usual fashion, hung up without waiting for Eren’s reply, so that he could set his phone aside and use his clean hand to grab the tissue box he had thankfully remembered to place on his nightstand.

“W-Wait Levi!” Eren cried into the phone, but his boyfriend had already hung up. _Well… Shit_ Eren thought to himself, looking down at his instantly flagging erection. This phone call had turned out a lot different then he’d imagined twice over now and he knew he was going to have a raging case of blue balls. At least the noises Levi had made were imprinted on Eren’s memory for all eternity. Hopefully, Eren could make Levi sound like that when they actually got down to business. 

**Levi:** Now I know why all the articles I read suggested to have plenty of tissues on hand. Next time, I’ll know what to expect.

Levi sent the message to his boyfriend after several minutes in which he’d cleaned up the mess from his skin and even went to the bathroom to properly wash up. Thankfully he hadn’t gotten any on his bed so he hadn’t had to change the sheets which would have taken longer and he was quite tired all of the sudden though he’d been wide awake before. And he tucked himself in and curled up with his phone still in his hand, sure that Eren would respond. 

**Eren:** ya… it’s pretty messy… XD

**Eren:** hey Levi...

**Eren:** if we do that again…

**Eren:** would u mind

**Eren:** staying on the phone? So I could finish too? I mean. U definitely don’t have to!

**Eren:** if u think that’s gross or weird or something I understand

**Eren:** it’d just be nice to… u kno… get off to the sound of ur voice and stuff…

**Eren:** u can say no tho!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Levi waited a full minute before he responded just to be sure Eren wasn’t sending another. He’d completely forgotten about the subarticle he’d read about reciprocation; truth be told he hadn’t realized it could be applied to masturbation and he didn’t think he’d mind. He’d been surprised this time, but next time he wouldn’t be. 

**Levi:** It’s not weird or gross. Next time I can definitely do that. I wouldn’t say no. I want to hear the sounds you make. 

**Levi:** I’m too tired now, but you can call me again tomorrow night. I won’t be busy then and we can try it again. Goodnight Eren.

He didn’t wait for Eren to respond to either of his messages, not because he didn’t want to, but because he couldn’t keep his eyes open. It wasn’t even that late, but that was okay; he’d been meaning to get more sleep and he kind of was excited for tomorrow anyway. And even if he couldn’t see Eren, he could at least hear him again...

Eren held his phone above his head as he read Levi’s texts as they popped up. When he read that his boyfriend wanted to do this again tomorrow, he dropped his phone on his face with a thud. “Ow…” he whined to the quiet loneliness of his empty bedroom, and laid like that for a half an hour more, trying to wrap his head around everything that had happened.

They hadn’t even kissed yet, and they were going to have phone sex tomorrow. Eren couldn’t say he minded… His dick managed to salute him once again from just the anticipation. Eren sighed and ignored it though. He didn’t really feel like wanking it without Levi’s voice to get him going. Tomorrow night was going to be a good one.

***

The second call went better than the first; Levi knew what to expect and he made a point of waiting for Eren, even encouraged him, proud of himself when he’d managed to coax more of _those_ sounds out of Eren. It was so weird, but he really liked them when they were Eren’s. It was a mess again, but that was okay too, because he’d been more prepared, had the tissues right next to him on his bed and he’d even thought to bring up a package of wet wipes as well. And he’d learned how useful speakerphone could be. He didn’t even have his laptop in the way this time either and they talked for a while after.

Levi wanted to do it again, actually he wanted to do more than that; he wanted to see Eren and actually _feel_ him… It was a good thing they’d talked for a while because if they hadn’t Levi wasn’t sure he’d have gotten any sleep at all before Saturday came. But he did. 

He woke up so excited that he went and woke Mika up too, no consideration for the earliness of the hour and even though she’d been grouchy, it hadn’t put a damper on his mood. Today was the day; it was finally time to put his plan in motion and Mikasa had promised to help. He’d texted his boyfriend while he waited for Mika to shower and dress, confirming that he and his cousin would be at the game that afternoon. He couldn’t see Eren until then, but that was okay; he wanted to surprise him anyway. 

When Mika finished, she went right to her closet, reminding him that he had to take good care of the borrowed uniform as she pulled it out. They spent the rest of the morning getting him fully ready for Eren’s game, taking reference from videos he’d seen online and with Mikasa’s added guidance. And once he was ready, he went to his room to pack up his bag with some of his things and Lancelot’s, clothes and other necessities just in case. They were supposed to spend time with Eren after the game and Levi decided he might not want to go home that night; it was better to be prepared, especially if his boyfriend liked the surprise as much as Mikasa assured him that Eren would. 

It was a bit weird wearing a skirt and showing off his pale belly, but the uniform was surprisingly comfortable, even the little stretchy shorts he had to wear underneath and he was glad it was warm out. Kenny even took pictures of him before he, Lancelot, and Mikasa went on their way. Levi didn’t want to be late even if Eren had said he got them VIP tickets; he was too excited to wait.

Standing outside the arena by the ticket booth, Eren leaned against a wall with his foot up wearing jeans and blue university zip up, waiting to give his boyfriend the promised tickets. It was a beautiful day for fall and Eren couldn’t help how charged he was with excitement and anticipation that Levi was going to watch him play in a real game. 

Eren was so zoned out running over plays in his head that he almost didn’t notice Levi until he saw Mikasa walking beside him. Smiling brightly, Eren stood up straight then jogged over to the pair. 

“Hey guys! I have your tick-...ets-...” Eren trailed off midword as his eyes floated down to see what Levi was wearing. 

Face turning bright red, Eren dropped the tickets he had in his outstretched hands, picked them up, then dropped them again, clearly distracted by all the pale smooth skin on display.

Levi had dressed up like a cheerleader… To cheer _for_ Eren… It was like one of Eren’s favourite fantasies and Levi had just walked out of a wet dream. 

Levi smiled brightly at his boyfriend as Lancelot circled his sneakered feet before he moved to hug Eren, too excited not to and completely oblivious to the effect his chosen apparel was having on the taller male. He felt like he hadn’t seen him in so long. “I missed you,” he said in greeting as he squeezed Eren around the middle and rubbed his face against his boyfriend’s chest affectionately, the blue and white sparkly pompoms attached to his headband bobbing against Eren’s chin and jaw unnoticed. “You aren’t wearing your gear yet.”

Mikasa didn’t say anything, though she reached for the tickets still clasped in Eren’s hand and watched the couple with a knowing eye. Levi might not have realized the effect he was having on his boyfriend, but she definitely did and it was pretty amusing to watch him try to figure out where his hands should be safe on her cousin while she was there.

Eren’s hands hovered over Levi’s hips, twitching like he was dying to grab them, but his green eyes darted over to Mikasa and back again before he rerouted to wrap his arms around Levi’s shoulders. Shoulders were safe, super non sexual appendage. But he could still feel the smoothness of Levi’s skin, and Eren was dying. 

He wanted to pick Levi up, throw him over his shoulder and run like a fucking caveman. 

“You look amazing…” Eren said, a little breathless as he hugged Levi even closer. He could see the goose bumps rise on the skin of Levi’s arms and suddenly he was concerned, pulling away just enough so he could see Levi’s eyes. “Are you sure you are warm enough? It’s a good thing it’s a warm day for October…” Eren said, biting his lip as he couldn’t help but let his eyes crawl over Levi’s skin once again. “Here, take my sweater,” Eren added, immediately unzipping the hoodie to wrap around Levi’s shoulders. It would keep Levi warm _and_ cover him from prying eyes. He looked so fucking good; way too good. 

He wasn’t cold, but Levi took Eren’s sweater anyway because just as he suspected it would, when he pulled it on, it smelled like Eren and he hummed as he cuddled into the warm fabric. He could always take it off if he got too hot while he was cheering Eren on. He looked his boyfriend over, appraising him and replied belatedly, “You look good too, but you’ll look better in your gear.”

Mikasa snorted, and covered it with a cough and a hand to hide her grin. This might be her new favourite thing; watching Levi embarrass and fluster his boyfriend unknowingly was priceless. And considering what Levi had told her about the erection situation on Wednesday… She’d been missing out before. If Eren was willing stick around through all that, he must really like Levi and she could respect that. Levi definitely liked him.

“Damn straight…” Eren answered, grinning cockily down at Levi. Glancing at Mikasa one last time, he pressed a quick kiss to the top of Levi’s head then pulled away. “I hope you guys enjoy the game!” Eren said, conspicuously pulling the front of his shirt down to hide his budding erection and holding his hands out in front of himself, “I gotta go get ready. Do you need help finding your seats and stuff?” 

“No, we’ll be fine, Mikasa knows where to go,” Levi said, gesturing vaguely at his cousin who nodded. He stepped up to Eren again before the other man could turn away, rising up on his toes to press a firm kiss just to the left of Eren’s lips, so close like a promise. “For luck,” he said quietly against his boyfriend’s skin before he stepped back again, “I’ll save the other for after you win.” 

Mikasa shook her head, watching her cousin and overhearing the words despite their softness; Eren was in for a real shock when the game was over. She cleared her throat and looked at her watch before she looked back at Eren expectantly, giving him a look that quite clearly said, ‘wrap it up.’

Eren was blushing furiously red then, but he managed to ignore Mikasa’s glare to press about a billion soft kisses all around Levi’s face, then one open mouthed and nibbling one to Levi’s neck, worrying the pale delicate skin a little to make it red. He then pulled away and took a couple steps backwards as he waved, “See you after the game!” Turning around, he jogged away and out of view; if he stayed there any longer he wouldn’t be able to leave.

Levi still had a hand held over the spot Eren’s mouth had been on his neck as Mikasa lead him to their seats; it was really tingling and hot there now but he definitely didn’t not like it. And he’d already been brimming with excitement; he’d enjoyed Eren’s practice so much, he was sure the game would be even better. The tingling only made him twice as restless and he kept standing up from his seat to look for Eren, though he obviously wasn’t out of the locker room yet. Mikasa was holding his bag for him, still looking at it suspiciously between watching her cousin, probably wondering why it was so heavy, but she wouldn’t dare look in it without Levi’s permission. Lancelot sat next to her on the bench on his very own freshly made blue and white pompom while Levi fidgeted with his own.

The stands quickly filled up with people, most wearing the universities colours, then cheer squad began their routine along with the marching band in the middle of the field before the game. 

Each team was announced as they walked onto the field and Eren, as the team captain, led his team, hoping Levi thought he looked good as he felt in his gear. He was determined to show Levi how good he was and impress his boyfriend, green eyes glancing up to the stands as the anthem played. 

Both teams did a quick warm up then they all got in their opposing positions while Eren and the other team captain stood at centre field with the ref to see who would take first possession. The crowd cheered when the ref tossed up the ball and Eren swiftly netted it and the game began. 

It was a tough four quarters, with both teams neck and neck with goals. Eren was running around wildly to score as much as possible. 

But at the end with only thirty seconds to go in the match, Jean had possession of the ball as Eren sprinted forward. Back and forth between their teammates, the ball advanced until Jean passed it to Eren and Eren faked out the goaltender and scored. 

The entire arena was on their feet as the people cheered for their university’s win. Eren’s teammates all tackled him by the away team’s net, hugging him and cheering for their victory. They even picked Eren up much to his protest, running around like lunatics. 

Levi spent most of the game on his feet, cheering and bouncing on his toes, waving the pompoms whenever Eren was in possession of the ball; he even had to take off the sweater because it was too warm when he was moving around so much. Mikasa had never seen him quite so engaged with an event like this; he didn’t like crowds, but he didn’t even seem to notice anyone else with his attention fixed avidly on the team captain. When the game ended, she was surprised when he abruptly excused himself, leaving Lancelot and his bag in her possession as he dashed down onto the field with a number of other fans following suit, weaving between them and team members with single minded eagerness to reach his boyfriend. Mikasa couldn’t believe it; he was actually gonna do it. She had to stand up to be sure she could see.

Levi broke through the crowd just as Eren pushed away from his exuberant teammates, complaining about his now missing helmet. And perhaps only seconds after he was free, Levi had quite literally thrown himself into the taller male, wrapping his arms tightly around Eren’s neck, still holding his pompoms and breathless from cheering. But he didn’t mind being a little breathless and he didn’t notice everyone staring on account of his mouth suddenly and firmly kissing Eren’s; his lips were as soft as Levi had always imagined, better actually because they were warm and tasted a bit like salt and something a little spicy. 

Eren had less than a moment to prepare to catch his boyfriend, seeing Levi fling himself out of the corner of his eye. But even though he welcomed Levi with open arms, he had only expected a hug in congratulations; Eren was totally unprepared for the slightly chapped and cold but perfect thin-bowed lips to meet his own. He stumbled back as he caught Levi by the thighs, his hands holding on just below the swell of his boyfriend’s ass, and it took a moment for his brain to catch up to the fact that Levi was kissing him. 

When Eren finally accepted that he wasn’t dreaming, he burst into life, pushing forward to kiss Levi right back. It wasn’t long before Eren opened his mouth, hungrily tasting the flavour he’d been dreaming of for weeks now. He didn’t care that people were surrounding them and watching, all he cared about was claiming Levi’s lips as his own. 

Levi made a sound that wasn’t quite a moan, but not quite a whine either, muffled by the press of Eren’s mouth and their tongues when his boyfriend deepened their kiss. He squeezed him tighter, finding the firmness of Eren’s hold and his kiss to be not bad at all. He didn’t know what he’d been so worried about before…

A pitched wolf whistle, several obnoxious ‘whoops’ and raucous laughter derailed the moment for Levi and he pulled back from Eren’s kiss breathless, flushed, and too warm. He didn’t look though; he already knew people were watching. He didn’t like it now that he’d realized it, but he was with Eren and looking at him so it wasn’t so bad. Maybe they should… “We should... go someplace more private,” he whispered, still pressed close to his boyfriend and curiously considering the tingling heat spreading under his skin everywhere they were touching.

Eren chased Levi’s lips when he pulled away, but stopped when he could feel his boyfriend’s discomfort. For a moment, Eren was worried that Levi didn’t like kissing but then whispered words gave clarity; Levi didn’t want to be watched by a crowd. Eren hiked Levi up in his arms, making sure he had a good grip and wouldn’t drop him, then began shouldering his way through the crowd. His teammates could celebrate with the spectators while Eren was busy with Levi. 

The only place private Eren could think to go was under the bleachers, so that’s where he went, carrying Levi the entire way as his boyfriend kept his head tucked into Eren’s neck. “We are alone now,” Eren said, setting Levi down as his hands slid to Levi’s hips, keeping him close. He really wanted to kiss Levi again, but Eren didn’t want to overwhelm him. 

Levi didn’t much mind being carried by his boyfriend, content to let Eren cart him wherever he wanted so long as it was someplace without spectators and he could cuddle against him the way he was. Even in his dirt and grass-stained gear, and smelling so strongly of that scent that was all his and salty sweat, Levi found Eren to be appealing. He liked the look of him, the smell of him, the taste of him. 

As soon as Eren had set him on his feet, he rose up on his toes, hands heavy on the taller male’s shoulders as he braced himself, liking the way Eren’s hands firmly locked onto his hips, and looking up at his boyfriend’s mouth then his eyes. “That’s good… Can we kiss again now?” he finally replied, wetting his own lips unconsciously; he definitely wanted to try it again. Before they’d been so rudely interrupted, it’d been pretty good.

Eren grinned then leaned forward to press his lips against Levi’s once before he answered, “We can kiss whenever you want to… I’m definitely not going to say no…” Eren’s breath tickled Levi’s wet lips then he pressed forward again, turning his head so that he could slot their lips together once more. His kiss was firm but teasing, trying to rein in his animalistic desire to just attack Levi’s face. Once again everything faded to the background as Eren’s entire being focused on the way Levi’s lips felt against his own. _Perfect..._

“Mhmmm,” Levi hummed into the kiss, participating enthusiastically, pressing in against his boyfriend tightly and letting his hands wander up to Eren’s sweat-damp and tangled hair. He wanted to look, to see the expression Eren had while they were kissing, but his eyes kept wanting to close every time he opened them and eventually he stopped trying; it was too difficult when he kept getting caught up in the kissing anyway.

They stayed like that for a long time, only breaking apart momentarily to catch a breath then beginning all over again. Eren’s hands were beginning to creep lower, fingers fanning out over Levi’s ass as he pulled his boyfriend closer to him. It wasn’t until they heard a loud cough behind them that they ended their kiss completely, panting as they turned to see Mikasa carrying Levi’s bulging bag and holding Lancelot. 

Levi licked his wet and reddened lips, still tasting Eren and feeling tingly all over, glassy-eyed and smiling through his heavy breaths as they broke apart. His clothes felt a little tighter than they’d been, but it wasn’t as uncomfortable as before and when he glanced down, it didn’t look like he had a full erection which was good because he didn’t want to repeat what had happened the last time. That was a relief and he almost wanted to kiss Eren again despite the disruption. But he didn’t, pulling away instead to properly address his cousin that was standing some feet from them. 

“Mika! The plan worked perfectly,” he greeted brightly, still grinning, and bouncing on his toes a bit.

Mikasa raised her brows, looking between Eren and Levi before she approached her cousin. “I can see that,” she answered, a knowing and vaguely amused smile flickering over her mouth as she offered Levi his bag, “You were taking a long time and I’m not going to hold all your shit while you make out all night. Your bag is heavy, what do you even have in here?”

“Essentials,” Levi answered promptly without elaborating, taking the bag from her and slinging it over his shoulder before he reached for Lancelot, “And you won’t have to hold it anymore. You can go home now. I’m going to Eren’s apartment.”

Eren was also dazed, blinking stupidly as he watched Levi take his bag. _My apartment_ , the words echoed through his head as his brows scrunched together until he realized what that meant. “Wait what? You wanna spend the night?” Eren asked, completely surprised by the sudden turn of events. Levi wanted to stay with him and hopefully make out more and just the thought had Eren turning an even brighter shade of red all the way up to his ears.

Well so much for keeping that bit of the plan a secret from his cousin… Levi exhaled a loud breath, returning to Eren’s side and taking his hand firmly in his unoccupied one, looking at him as he replied, “I thought I might.” He glanced at his cousin, sure she would argue, but she didn’t. She looked like she wanted to though.

Mikasa did in fact want to argue, but she’d already decided that she was going to support the two of them and really Levi was going to do it whether or not she said anything at all. She did give Eren a long warning look just to remind him what she was entrusting him with and what the consequences would be if he did something stupid. She was trusting him because he’d earned it, and he’d better damn well call her if anything happened. 

“Okay, I’ll let dad know. Call if you decide you wanna come home,” she said, finally looking back at her cousin, quirking a little smirk as she concluded, “And don’t leave hickies all over your boyfriend just ‘cause he’ll let you,” waving as she turned to leave.

Levi watched her go with a curious look and vague smile. Weird, but not bad; Mika was really trying and that was good. “Would you really?” he asked Eren abruptly, giving his hand a squeeze and looking up at him again with interest.

Eren let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding then looked down at Levi with an embarrassed smile. “Yeah... most definitely,” Eren answered with blunt honesty. Mikasa seemed to already know how wrapped around Levi’s finger Eren was. 

Levi looked down, smile broadening as he replied, “Good. No one will know if they’re under your clothes though... We should go now. Do you need to change?”

Eren was quiet for a moment, completely dazed with Levi’s answer, beginning to imagine exactly _where_ Levi would put those marks. It took him a while to snap himself out of his stupor, shaking his head a little before he was able to answer Levi. “Uh… ye-yeah. I gotta go take my gear off. But I can shower once we get home… You wanna wait here or come with me?” Eren asked, resisting the urge to lean down and start another round of making out. 

“I’ll come,” Levi answered immediately, settling Lancelot on his shoulder and adjusting his bag before he started tugging Eren in the direction he knew the locker rooms to be. He wanted to hurry up and go to Eren’s apartment. It might be nicer to kiss in Eren’s bed like he’d been imagining before. And maybe other things too. 

Eren let Levi drag him forward, a dopey smile on his face the entire way until they got to the locker room. All sorts of noises were echoing out of the space, singing, banging, yelling. It sounded like his teammates were ready to party even before they left the grounds. Eren bit his lip, nervous that the commotion would upset Levi. “My team is being all rowdy… Is that okay? You could wait for me out here,” he offered. 

Levi looked at Eren for a long second before he abruptly answered, “It's fine.” And it would be; he had both Lancelot and Eren with him. Besides, he was curious about his boyfriend's friends. And he kind of wanted to see what the locker room looked like and what the team did while they were in there. At least it would keep him occupied while his boyfriend was changing and then they could finally go to Eren's.

[](http://s311.photobucket.com/user/XanderBradeshaw/media/SNK%20arts%20by%20me/spec%2012-2_zpswrxul2vr.jpeg.html)

[](http://s311.photobucket.com/user/XanderBradeshaw/media/SNK%20arts%20by%20me/spec%2012-1_zpsqqez3msm.jpeg.html)


End file.
